


Color Me Lovestruck

by Saffir



Category: Supernatural
Genre: BAMF Charlie Bradbury, Cas has two cats, Cas isn't that oblivious, Dean has anxiety, Dean is oblivious af, Drunk Shenanigans, First Kiss, Fluff, Gabriel Has a Dog, Gabriel isn’t, Happy Ending, Highschool AU, John Winchester's A+ Parenting, M/M, Protective Dean, Protective Novak siblings, Sam Has Anxiety, Sam Has a Dog, Sam’s shy, Soulmate AU, charlie's the best, fangirl Charlie, father figure bobby singer, little angst, mentions of abuse, mentions of bullying, slight homophobia, will update tags as story goes on
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-21
Updated: 2020-02-13
Packaged: 2020-03-08 23:05:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 26,288
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18904501
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Saffir/pseuds/Saffir
Summary: Highschool & Soulmate AUAll Dean and Sam Winchester have ever known is a harsh world without color. That all changes in 2017, when the two brothers move to Sioux Falls and begin to attend Loreman High. There, they meet two of the Novak brothers, and they watch as their once cold, colorless world explodes into a beautiful kaleidoscope of color.Gabriel and Castiel Novak have grown up in a colorless world- that's all they've known their entire lives. Until the start of Gabriel's senior year and Castiel's junior year, that is. That's when they meet the Winchester brothers, two transfers from Kansas who are just looking to make a life there. But the Winchesters weren't expecting to find a life there- in the arms of Gabriel and Castiel, who are, to say the least, equally surprised.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Ya bitch made a new spn story! This is my second highschool au, but my first soulmate au- so wish me luck! First official chapter will hopefully be up around mid-late June  
> I hope y'all will enjoy!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dean and Sam move to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and settle into a new house with their father figure, Bobby Singer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope y'all enjoy this prologue!

"Here we are boys." Exclaimed Bobby gruffly, setting Dean's suitcase down on the pavement of the driveway that he had just pulled into. "This is your new home."

 

Dean unbuckled his seatbelt, tore the car door open and nearly fell onto the pavement, scrambling up to stare at the house. It was two stories, with a slightly decrepit look to it- some of the shutters had fallen off and a few tiles were missing- but it looked amazing nonetheless. It looked to be a light color- tan, most likely, but Dean couldn't fully tell from the shade of gray. 

 

"We're gonna live here?" Asked Sam incredulously, staring at the house in awe as he stepped out of the car.

 

"You sure are." Bobby replied with slight traces of a smile on his lips as he scanned both boys excited faces. "This is gonna be your house, from now until whenever you two move out." 

 

Sam laughed and ran towards the front door, Dean close in tow. Sam, of course, reached the front door first, and with the key Bobby had given him earlier, he quickly unlocked the front door and ran inside. 

 

The house was completely empty- there wasn't any furniture, no trace of life or anything. No personalized touch anywhere. The realtor had told Bobby that the last inhabitants of the house moved out two years prior- and before they moved, they repainted the walls and removed everything. 

 

However, Sam and Dean didn't seem to care- an empty house meant an opportunity to personalize the house- to make it their own. They had never had that opportunity before, as their family had never had enough money to get anything to decorate either of the boys rooms. But now, Bobby was taking care of them, and he had a stable enough income and enough money to get things to decorate their rooms. And man were Sam and Dean excited at the prospect of having their own rooms to personalize.

 

As soon as Bobby walked into the door with both Dean and Sam's suitcases in hand, Dean ran up to him as Sam ran upstairs. "When will the movers be here, Bobby?" 

 

"Hm, I think about an hour, last time I checked."

 

"I call the master bedroom!" Yelled Sam from upstairs, breaking the moment. 

 

"Hey! I want the master bedroom!" Dean yelled back, running up the stairs with fervor. 

 

"Yeah well I call dibs!"

 

Bobby stood at the bottom of the stairs, laughing at how excited the two boys were with the house. For the past two years, they had mostly been living in motel rooms and Rufus's place- it was reasonable that the two boys were practically bouncing off the walls in joy at having their own house. 

 

Bobby carried both suitcases up the carpeted wooden stairs in the foyer and up onto the carpeted second floor. Sam and Dean were both fighting over which room they got, as both of them wanted the upstairs master bedroom, which was the larger of the two upstairs bedrooms. 

 

Eventually, Sam won the brotherly spat and claimed the master bedroom as his own, taking his suitcase from Bobby (before thanking him for carrying it upstairs) and setting it by the door. Dean grudgingly took the slightly smaller bedroom, but he soon came to like it when he saw he had a much better view of the backyard and pool than Sam did- and a view that was perfect for watching the sunrise. He too took his suitcase from Bobby, thanked him for carrying it upstairs and then set it near the door. 

 

The two boys then took to walking around the house, exploring the three bedrooms, three bathrooms, kitchen, two living rooms, the backyard, pool, and many other areas. The house wasn't particularly large, but it was a relatively new, modern house- having been built in 1986- and it was larger than their old house, so both brothers were perfectly happy with it. Plus, the backyard was actually pretty large, with a wrap-around fence and an open grassy area that led out to a very pretty lake. 

 

The house also happened to be in a relatively large neighborhood, meaning both boys would have the opportunity of many potential new friends- and a park, which they had seen when they were driving to the house. Granted, the park was small and only had a few trees and a playground, but they were excited all the same. 

 

About half an hour had passed when Dean finally tired of exploring the new house (for now). When he sat by the front door, Bobby yelled for Sam. Sam, who had been exploring the basement, ran towards Bobby's voice, eventually finding his way to the foyer.

 

"Alright you two, get in the car. Let's go look at the town." 

 

And away they went. 

 

Their new town was Sioux Falls, South Dakota- the place Bobby had once lived years prior, before moving to another state after the death of his wife. Bobby had decided to move both boys to his hometown, far away from their old hometown of Lawrence, Kansas. Neither of the boys had ever been to Sioux Falls, so neither of them knew much about it, other than what Bobby had told them- and they were excited to live there. 

 

After driving around for a good fifteen minutes, Bobby eventually settled on taking both boys to get some lunch at a local Applebee's, a restaurant both Sam and Dean had always wanted to go to but had never gotten the chance- until now. And as soon as Bobby parked the car, both boys tore open the car doors and ran off towards the restaurant.

 

After the three of them all sat down and ordered their drinks and food- and got their drinks- Dean glanced out the window at some cars that drove by and some people that walked among the parking lot. As he stared out the window, he put his cheek against his hand and sighed, stirring his straw in his drink absentmindedly. "It's crazy to think that school is about five weeks away."

 

"Yeah." Murmured Sam in reply, glancing towards his brother and then to Bobby, who also briefly glanced towards Dean while taking a sip of his water. 

 

"Ah well, no more moving around for you two." Bobby remarked. "Now you got a new, permanent school."

 

"And maybe one of us might find our soulmate in this town!" Sam cried in earnest, earning a laugh from Bobby.

 

"Yeah, maybe you will." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First official chapter should be up around mid-late June!


	2. First day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dean and Sam go to their first day of school, as do the Novaks

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoo, almost 4k words for the first chapter? You betcha!
> 
> So, lil thing- all the teachers (except one) are named after YouTubers or my friends, so if you don't recognize one of the teacher names as a YouTuber, then that teacher is named after a friend of mine ^^  
> I meant to upload this chapter in a few days but I figured, since I'm up so late, why not upload it now? So, here ya go! I'll probably (but I can't guarantee it) upload once every two weeks or so, hopefully. Until the next chapter!

There were many things Dean regretted in his life- not getting Sam that Harry Potter book for his tenth birthday, not turning that one science project in on time- but his latest regret was setting his morning alarm for 7 in the morning after staying up until 1 am. 

 

When the alarm on his phone went off, it tore Dean out of his tender dream and into the harsh reality of morning. He fumbled for his phone, muttering to himself as his fingers finally clasped onto the small device and he frantically turned the wailing alarm off. With a huff, he rolled onto his back, stared at his ceiling and sighed.

 

His room was yet to be fully decorated- he surprisingly still had some unpacking to do- but he had a desk, a computer and the walls were painted. The paint can had said mahogany on it, but Dean couldn't tell if the can had been lying or not, as his room was still solid gray to him. Nevertheless, he just assumed it was mahogany and had painted his room with it.

 

Next door to him, Dean could hear the familiar sounds of Sam getting ready- the shuffle of his closet doors, the crumpling of clothes onto the floor, and the shuffling of shoes. Dean didn't have to guess Sam’s next move, though; in a moment, Dean’s door was swung open by a way-too-eager Sam. 

 

“Good morning Dean! It's time to wake up, school starts at 8:30!” 

 

“Yeah, yeah, I know.” Dean groaned, rolling onto his belly before lifting his hand to flip Sam off. Sam cried out a familiar “Jerk!” before he closed Dean’s door, drowning out the “Bitch!” that followed. 

 

With a huff, Dean rolled over and closed his eyes, hoping to get some sleep in. The world wasn't that kind, though, and Bobby was knocking on Dean’s door in minutes. 

 

“Dean! Get your butt up, you have school today!” 

 

Dean groaned again in dismay, but ultimately sat up when Bobby nearly kicked his door in. 

 

“Alright! Alright! I’m up!” Dean cried, holding his hands up in surrender. Bobby gave a small huff before shoving a shirt in Dean’s face.

 

“Here. Wear this.”

 

It was Dean’s favorite plaid shirt, one that Bobby had washed specifically so Dean could wear it today. 

 

“Thanks Bobby.”

 

Bobby shook his hand. “Ah, don't thank me boy. Put that on and get ready so you aren't late for your first day. You still gotta get your schedule, don't forget.” 

 

Dean nodded. “Yeah, I know. First place Sam and I’ll head will be the main office, if we can find it.”

 

“I’m sure someone’ll point you in the right direction.” 

 

Dean nodded, and Bobby closed the door behind him, leaving Dean to get ready for the day, which he did. Dean pulled on the plaid shirt and put a jacket on over it- his hand-me-down leather jacket, in fact, which was one of the only positive memories he had of his father. 

 

After adorning a pair of jeans and his regular, everyday shoes, Dean finally emerged from his bedroom at 7:35 am.  
Sam was already downstairs and eating breakfast- buttermilk waffles with syrup, expertly made by Bobby. 

 

When Dean reached the table, he was greeted by Arizona- Sam’s dog, whom they had adopted two weeks prior. She greeted Dean with a playful bark, and he gave her a quick pat on the head before sitting down. As soon as he did sit down, Bobby slid a plate of waffles his way, and Dean dug into them almost immediately. 

 

As he savored the delicious taste of fluffy buttermilk waffles and homemade syrup, Sam finished his own plate and put it into the sink with a clatter before rinsing it off with water. Sam then got a drink and downed his morning pill- a pill prescribed to both Sam and Dean, to combat anxiety and stress. When Sam downed his, he took Dean’s pill into his hand and handed it to Dean, who downed it as soon as he finished eating his own plate of waffles. 

 

Bobby grabbed Dean’s empty glass of water as soon as he was done with it, but not before he turned to Dean. “Hey, Dean, don't forget that you have a therapy appointment after school.” 

 

“Yeah, I haven't forgotten. What time will it be, 4 or 4:30?”

 

“4:30.”

 

“I won't miss it, Bobby.”

 

“You better not.”

 

Dean let out a laugh as he shoveled another forkful of waffle into his mouth. He finished his plate in minutes, and rinsed his plate off in the sink before grabbing his backpack. By that time, Sam was already ready, his backpack on his back, stuffed full of binders and notebooks and a Harry Potter themed pencil pouch. He was sitting by the front door, his hands dug into Arizona’s fur, petting her eagerly as he cooed at her. 

 

“You ready to go?” Dean asked, tilting his head as he grabbed his Led Zeppelin themed backpack.

 

Sam paused petting Arizona and nodded eagerly, clasping the straps of his backpack, which, like his pencil pouch, was Harry Potter themed. “Yep! I’m ready!” 

 

“Alright then. Go out to the car, I’ll be out in a second.”

 

Sam bid Arizona and Bobby goodbye, then ran out of the house and towards the car, the ‘67 Impala the boys had repossessed from their father two years prior. He stood on the passengers side, waiting patiently as Dean opened the front door of the house and walked out. Sam hopped in as soon as Dean unlocked the car, setting his backpack and lunch box at his feet. 

 

“Alright. You ready for your first day of high school?” Questioned Dean, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel. Sam nodded eagerly, sitting up a little straighter as he stared at the house through the windshield. 

 

“Yep!”

 

Dean’s lips curved up into a smile, dousing his face in warmth as he faced the windshield. “Alright. Let's go.”  
Dean dug the keys into the ignition, laughing when the car erupted to life with a familiar roar. It softened to a purr, one that was very comforting to both brothers. 

 

Dean eased the car out of the driveway, and once he rolled back onto the road, he drove off towards the school, leaving the house behind. 

 

~~~~~

 

Cas woke up the morning of the first day of school to a face full of fur. Spluttering, he almost immediately sat up, scaring his cat right off of his chest and sending her bounding across the room. 

 

“Gemini!” He cried out, eyes landing on the black and white ragamuffin cat that was now sitting next to his door, pawing at it helplessly. “How many times have I told you to not wake me up like that?”  
Cas's other cat, a bombay cat named Nox, meowed in disapproval at Gemini. Cas just sighed and tore his bedsheets off of himself, sitting up on his dark colored bed. He walked over and picked Gemini up, startling a _mrr_ from her as he set her back down on his bed. 

 

Cas walked over to his closet, and out of it came his usual trench coat. He also pulled on a Hufflepuff shirt, a pair of jeans and some (from what he had been told) dark gray sneakers. He paused in front of the mirror, patting his hair to make sure that it was somewhat neat. (His hair was so messy that he’d long given up on making it be completely and utterly neat)

 

The first thing he heard after opening his door was the sound of Lucifer yelling at Gabriel to get up. Given how common the sound was, Cas just shrugged it off and went downstairs, Nox and Gemini following closely behind. That was until two of the other cats of the house, Quinn and Coffee, came walking out towards Nox and Gemini, and the two cats paused to meow at them.

 

Cas went downstairs regardless, walking up to the kitchen bar, where Raphael, Balthazar and Anael were sitting, eating breakfast.

 

“Cas! Hey, there you are. Mom made waffles for breakfast.” Balthazar exclaimed, pushing a plate of waffles towards Cas as he sat down. Cas took the plate, drizzled some syrup over it and took a bite.

 

“Is Lucifer gonna drive us to school?” Inquired Cas as he stuffed a forkful of waffles into his mouth.

 

“Lucifer will drive half of us and Gabriel will drive the other half. So we get to choose whose car we go in.” Anael explained, setting down her empty milk glass. “I’m going with Lucifer.” 

 

“I’m going with Gabriel.” Said Balthazar, setting down his fork onto an empty plate. “I don't really wanna go with either of them, but Gabriel has better taste in music. All Lucifer listens to is hard rock.” 

 

Cas set his own fork down for a brief moment. “I’ll go with Gabriel as well. He has Imagine Dragons in his playlist.”

 

“Rock haters.” Muttered Anael, poking Balthazar’s arm. He swatted at her hand and she laughed, pulling her hand away. 

 

“Good morning.” Came a voice, belonging to none other than Samandriel. He was still dressed in yesterday's clothes, but his hair was brushed neatly and he was holding a shirt in his hand. “What's for breakfast?”

 

Balthazar grabbed Cas’s plate and held it up. “Buttermilk waffles with syrup.” 

 

As Cas snatched his plate back, Samandriel nodded and left the room to go change before he ate. 

 

Gabriel was the next person downstairs. His hair was a mess and his eyes were tired, and on his face rested an irritated expression, clearly from Lucifer banging his fists against Gabriel’s door. Apparently Gabriel had gotten up after Lucifer threatened to replace all his candy with fruit. 

 

Gabriel took his own plate of waffles, pausing as his dog Hershey ran down the stairs to follow him. He gave Hershey a pat on the head before he sat down and began to pour syrup on his waffles. 

 

As Gabriel nearly drowned his pancakes in syrup, Balthazar clicked his tongue in disgust. Unfortunately for him, Gabriel heard the noise, and shot a glare at Balthazar as he tucked the syrup bottle away. 

 

“I could let Lucifer drive you, if you're so against my syrup methods.” Gabriel remarked, taking a forkful of waffle.

 

“No, don't.” Balthazar sighed, taking his empty plate to the sink. “I’ll ride with you.” 

 

Gabriel tossed his head and downed another forkful of waffle.

 

Samandriel was the next person to enter the kitchen that morning for breakfast, having changed into some good clothes. He was now dressed in his typical attire- a striped shirt that Chuck had said was white and red, a pair of jeans and some dark shoes which Chuck had also said were dark red. He grabbed a plate of waffles and drizzled quite a bit of syrup onto them before taking a forkful of waffle.

 

“Hey guys,” Cried Becky as she walked downstairs, “School starts in one hour. You should probably head out in the next fifteen minutes.”

 

“We will!” Cried Anael, dumping her plate into the sink. She rinsed it off with water and then left it as she ran upstairs to get properly dressed. 

 

Lucifer finally came downstairs just moments after Anael ran upstairs, and he was followed by Hannah and Anna, both of whom were dressed and ready to go. As the three descended the stairs, Hannah grabbed Coffee, who was sitting on the fourth stair, and took her back to her room to put her up. Anna grabbed her own cat, Quinn, and put her up as well.

 

As soon as Cas finished off his own plate of waffles, he discarded it in the sink, gave a pat to Hershey and went to put Gemini and Nox up. It was a bit of a struggle to get Gemini up, but Nox came willingly and perched herself on the top of the cat tower as Cas closed the door. 

 

By the time all the pets were put up, both Gabriel and Samandriel had finished their breakfast. As they put their plates in the sink, Gabriel grabbed his car keys right as Lucifer walked out the door with Hannah and Anael. 

“You guys ready?” Questioned Gabriel as he opened the front door for his siblings. Cas, Balthazar and Samandriel all shook their heads, and Gabriel laughed. “Yeah, me neither. At least this is my last year.”

 

The four brothers climbed into Gabriel's car, and Gabriel immediately plugged his phone in and began playing his usual playlist. The first song to come on was Pump It by The Black Eyed Peas, and Gabriel turned the music up as he pulled out of the driveway. Balthazar slowly began to lipsync to the song as the car rolled out of the driveway and down the road, towards the school. The ride was a mere ten minutes, during which two Elle King songs (“It’s a guilty pleasure,” said Gabriel) and an Imagine Dragons song played through Gabriel’s playlist. By the time they reached the school, the parking lot was already half full. Gabriel parked in the seniors lot, and Cas, Balthazar and Samandriel hopped out of the car almost immediately. 

 

“You guys got your schedules?” When everyone nodded, Gabriel held his own up. “I got English 4 first, what about you guys?” 

 

“I have creative writing first.” Cas murmured in reply, glancing at his schedule. 

 

Balthazar scanned an eye over his own schedule. “Spanish 2 is first for me. Ha! I got Mr. Harrison!” 

 

Samandriel tilted his head. “Mr. Harrison?” 

 

“He’s the most entertaining of all the spanish teachers.” Balthazar explained. “What's your first class, Alfie?”

 

“English 1 honors with a Mr. Lester.” 

 

“Mr. Lester? Lucky, he's one of the nicest teachers. I got stuck with the mean English teacher my first year.” Gabriel remarked. “What lunch periods do you all have?”

 

Cas raised his schedule up. “6th for me. Just like last year.” 

 

“5th for me,” Replied Balthazar, as he shot a glance at Samandriel’s schedule, “and 4th for Alfie.” 

 

“Alright. I’ll see Cas in 6th lunch. And you two,” Gabriel turned to face Samandriel and Balthazar, “I’ll meet you two back at my car after school. Alright, let's have a halfway decent first day.”

 

~~~~~

 

“So, what class do you have first?” Inquired Dean, as the lady in the office handed both brothers their schedules.

 

“Geometry honors.”

 

Dean shook his head. “I’ve never understood why anyone would put math first. I got US History first, though. Thankfully.”

 

“With what teacher?”

 

“Ms. Rankin.” 

 

“Ms. Rankin’s class is in the 300 hall.” Explained the office lady. “And the math classes are all upstairs, furthest hall.” 

 

Sam nodded in understanding and heaved his backpack up. “Thank you. Have a good day Dean.” 

 

And with that, Sam walked off to his first class, Dean close in tow. The two brothers split when Sam had to go upstairs, so Dean continued going forward until he reached the 300 hall.  
“327, 327…. ah! There it is.” Exclaimed Dean aloud as he spotted his first class.  
When he walked in, he couldn't help but sigh in awe at the classroom. It was fully decorated- fairy lights strung along the board, curtains over the windows and posters over the walls. As he walked in, he was approached by the teacher- a relatively pretty woman who was holding some papers. She held one up and glanced at Dean.

 

“Name?”

 

“Dean Winchester.”

 

“Ah, Mr. Winchester. You’re in this seat,” she pointed towards a seat in the third row, “Right next to Ms. Bradbury. I trust that you two will get along.” 

 

Dean nodded, and he went to go sit down in his seat. Whoever was supposed to be sitting next to him wasn't yet there, so he set his stuff down and messed around on his phone until the first bell rang. Kids began to trickle into the room, and three minutes before the second bell rang to signal the start of first period, a girl ran into the room and sat next to Dean, setting her stuff down with a huff. 

 

The girl, who Dean supposed was the ‘Ms. Bradbury’ the teacher had mentioned, had long, somewhat dark colored hair and was wearing a Star Wars shirt. It didn't take her long to notice Dean sitting next to her, and she immediately stuck her hand out.

 

“I don't think I’ve ever seen you, so you must be new here. Charlie Bradbury.”

 

Dean took her hand and shook it. “Dean Winchester.” 

 

“Winchester? Like the Winchester Mystery House in California?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Awesome. I’ve been there- it's really cool.” Her eyes glanced down to Dean’s backpack, which caught her eye. “Led Zeppelin fan?”

 

Dean nodded. “Yeah. I love their music.”

 

“I do too.” Charlie said with a laugh. “My mom, she hates Led Zeppelin. She always complains if I play them in my car. Of course, she doesn't even have to go in my car since she has her own, but I guess she likes to judge my music taste.” 

 

Dean laughed. “Yeah, everyone's a critic.”

 

Charlie pursed her lips and nodded in agreement. “You can say that again.” 

 

The second bell rang loudly, and the teacher took the opportunity to close the door. 

 

“Alright, good morning everyone. I’m Ms. Rankin, and I’ll be teaching you World History Honors. Since today is the first day, I’ll just read the class rules and hand out a get-to-know-me sheet.” 

 

The teacher then pulled up a powerpoint and explained all her class rules- and thankfully, there weren’t that many. Dean was hoping he wouldn’t get any strict teachers. 

 

After the rules came the first activity of the year, a get-to-know-you assignment. It was just a simple sheet where you fill stuff out about yourself, so Dean finished it with ease. 

 

As soon as he finished though, he spotted Charlie trying to glance at his paper. 

 

“You want to trade papers?” He asked, holding his up. 

 

“Oh, I was just wondering what you put as your favorite show.” She replied, “I put Sherlock down as mine.” 

 

“American Horror Story for me,” Dean held up his paper so that Charlie could clearly see it, “But I’ve been meaning to watch Sherlock. I just got Netflix, so I should be able to watch it on there.”

 

Charlie held hers up to show Dean. “I also like American Horror Story. Favorite season?”

 

“So far, Asylum. But Hotel is my second favorite.”

 

“Freak Show for me,” Charlie put her paper down and zipped her Doctor Who pencil pouch up, “But Asylum is a close second.” 

 

“Freak Show scared the living daylights out of my brother. Or at least that clown Twisty did.” 

 

Charlie nodded. “I don’t blame your brother. Twisty _was_ really scary.” 

 

The bell ending second period rang not too long after Dean finished his paper, so he gave it to the teacher, bid Charlie goodbye and went off to his second period- Spanish 2. Spanish wasn’t too eventful- Dean had apparently gotten the most entertaining Spanish teacher, Mr. Harrison, who gave them all an eager introduction and passed out a little sheet of paper to describe what the course would entail. 

 

His third period was Math with a teacher named Mr. Saunders, who was also pretty entertaining. Mr. Saunders had started off the class pointing his pointer finger at a kid who had walked in tapping away at his phone, then ended the class with a whoop. 

 

His fourth period was Chemistry, which wasn’t all that entertaining. The teacher, Ms. MacLeod, spent the entire class talking about what they would do in Chemistry. Dean also happened to spot a kid in the back of the class who was wearing a trenchcoat, which he thought was an odd choice of clothing, but nothing else really happened. It was his fifth period that became entertaining- when he saw both his brother and Charlie in the class. Sam was sitting at a table towards the back, and Charlie was sitting at a different table- but she soon moved tables when she spotted Dean in the room. 

 

“Charlie! Hey, this is my brother, Sam. Sam, this is Charlie, who I met this morning.” 

 

Charlie immediately held her hand out. “Hello Sam! It’s nice to meet you.” 

 

Sam held out his own hand and took Charlie’s hand. “It’s nice to meet you too, Charlie.”

 

The bell rang right after that, and the art teacher stood in front of the class and began to talk. She had them do a simple thing- draw a sketch of themselves and personalize it by adding little symbols of things they liked. She handed out colored pencils, and although neither Sam, Dean nor Charlie could tell what color they were by looking at them, they used the pencils nonetheless by reading the color from the side. 

 

The three of them all happened to have lunch after art class, but Charlie took a different route than the two brothers, so they didn’t realize it at first. By the time they got to the cafeteria, it was halfway full, with kids pouring in. Sam immediately pointed out a table near the entrance, an empty table, so he and Dean quickly took it and sat down. They both unpacked the lunches Bobby had fixed for them- spaghetti in a thermos, some yogurt and a brownie- and dug in.

 

“How were your first five classes?” Dean inquired, taking out a plastic spoon to eat his spaghetti with. 

 

“They were alright. My geometry teacher is fine, my law studies teacher is british, I believe. Oh, my french one teacher is also named Sam, and my culinary teacher was pretty nice. She just handed out cookies to everyone in the class and introduced herself.” Sam took the brownie out of his lunchbox and handed it to Dean. “No colors yet, though.”

 

Dean stuffed a forkful of spaghetti into his mouth and nearly choked trying to answer. “Well, only like ten percent of people meet their soulmates in highschool, remember? And it’s usually in their last two years, not really first year. But hey, don’t fret. You’ll find your soulmate one day. Though I still don’t understand why you want to find them so badly.”

 

“Because, Dean,” Sam explained, taking a bite of his spaghetti, “Your soulmate is supposed to be your partner for life. You know, the best friend and lover who loves you for who you are, not for your past or what you’ve done. And soulmates are supposed to bring you lots of happiness. Isn’t it normal to want happiness?”

 

Dean paused, twirling his fork around in his thermos. “Yeah, it is. I guess I just don’t really want to find my soulmate too early. I want to live a little before I’m tied down to one person.”

 

“You say that as though having a soulmate is like being in a jail cell.”

 

“Yeah, well, in some ways it is and in some ways it isn’t. I just want to live while I have the chance. Be my own person, experience things that I can’t experience with another person at my side.” 

 

Sam just shook his head and continued to eat. ‘Whatever you say, Dean.”


	3. The New Kids

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Monday rolls around, much to the chagrin of both the Novaks and the Winchesters. Sam and Dean meet two of Charlie's friends, and Lucifer begins planning something.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a bit shorter than I'd like, but it's midnight and I figured why not upload it today? Anyways, enjoy!

When Cas awoke to yelling on Monday morning, he didn't really think much of it. With Lucifer and Gabriel in the house, yelling was commonplace- at least in the morning, due to their completely opposite habits. (Lucifer being an early bird who loathed lateness, and Gabriel being a night owl who loathed being up early)

 

But surprisingly, the yelling wasn't what woke him up that morning. Rather, it was a knock at his door- small and soft, barely noticeable and yet loud enough to wake Cas up- that Cas knew could only be from one person. Sure enough, he opened the door to see Jack standing in front of his door, his kitten in his arms. When the door opened, Jack took a step forward into Cas’s room, a half frown plastered on his lips as he looked up at Cas. 

 

“Is the yelling upsetting you?” Cas asked, kneeling down to face Jack. Jack lowered his eyes and nodded, placing his kitten Marble on the floor. Marble gave a soft meow and walked right up to Nox and rubbed her body against her, as Nox ruffled her fur and laid down. Gemini gave an indignant meow from her spot on the top of the cat tower. 

 

“Luci’s just being really loud.” Jack confessed, walking into Cas’s room. Cas pushed the door closed behind Jack. “And I feel sick. And my head hurts.”

 

“You feel sick?”

 

Jack nodded. “Mhm. I feel hot, then I felt cold. I think I have a fever.” 

 

Cas picked Jack up and sat him on his bed. “Here. I’ll put a movie on and then I’ll go tell Mom that you're sick, okay?”

 

Jack nodded in understanding, so Cas grabbed some clothes from his closet for himself and left his door open just a crack. 

 

By time that Cas descended the stairs, the yelling had stopped. When he got to the kitchen, he saw Gabriel sitting at the kitchen bar, a scowl on his face as he drank a mug of water and toyed with a fork. Lucifer stood a few feet away from him, arms crossed as he watched Gabriel accusingly. Apparently, Gabriel had been refusing to wake up and get ready, so Lucifer had apparently dragged Gabriel out of bed and was forcing him to have breakfast- an odd sight, but yet again, nothing Cas hadn't seen before. Lucifer dragging Gabriel downstairs to breakfast was, oddly, an all-too-common sight in the Novak household. 

 

Cas soon found his mom, Becky, brushing her hair in the cabana bathroom next to her bedroom, so Cas knocked on the open door to signal his presence. When she turned her head and her eyes met his, he spoke. “Hey mom, Jack’s not feeling well, says he has a fever and his head hurts. He wants to stay home today.”

 

Becky sighed and put her hair brush down with a small clatter. “Alright. I’ll call his school and stay home to watch him.” She then walked out of the bathroom and stuck her head into the doorway of her bedroom. “Chuck! Jack’s sick, I’m gonna stay home to watch him!”

 

Chuck yelled a simple “Okay!” in reply, so Becky turned and sent Cas back to his room, asking him to put Jack to bed. 

 

When Cas opened the door, Jack was laying down on his bed, watching the TV adamantly. When Cas walked in, Jack turned his head and sat up a little, his large eyes watching Cas expectantly. 

 

“Mom’s going to stay home and watch after you, so she wants you to go back to bed. Meanwhile, I’m gonna go get dressed so I can go to school.” 

 

“Can I stay in your room today?”

 

Cas sighed softly. “Well if you're sick, I’d rather you not get germs all over my room, okay? Maybe another time.” 

 

Jack nodded and hopped off the bed, grabbing Marble before he ambled out of Cas’s room and down the hall to his own. Right as Jack reached the door to his own room, he turned back and waved at Cas, a small little wave before opening his door and closing it behind him. 

 

Cas took the opportunity to close his door and get dressed, pulling on an AHS shirt and some jeans. He opted out of his usual trench coat, promising himself he’d wear it tomorrow, but that it was too dirty today and needed to be washed. He set a sticky note on his door to remind himself to wash it when he got home from school, before grabbing his phone and walking downstairs. 

 

When he finally went downstairs to have breakfast, he saw breakfast was eggs and bacon, courtesy of Becky. Cas was the last person downstairs that morning, so he settled for a piece of bacon and one forkful of scrambled eggs before grabbing his backpack. A few of his siblings were still waiting by the door as Gabriel and Lucifer got dressed upstairs. Cas joined them and stood by the door, scrolling away on his phone while he waited. 

 

Lucifer was downstairs first, his backpack on his back as he ushered Hannah and Anael out the door so he could drive them. Gabriel wasn't too far behind; he nearly tripped as he ran downstairs, backpack strung on his back. He whisked his keys off the key holder, then held the door open as Balthazar, Cas and Samandriel went outside towards Gabriel’s car. They reached it rather quickly, and waited impatiently for Gabriel to close the front door and run to his car. 

 

When Gabriel finally reached the car to unlock it, the others quickly hopped in; Cas in the passenger's seat, Balthazar and Samandriel in the back. Gabriel was last to get in, as he clicked his seatbelt and dug his keys into the ignition. Gabriel then hooked his phone up to CarPlay and clicked shuffle on his playlist, grinning when the first song to play was _I write sins not tragedies_. 

 

Even Samandriel tapped his foot a little as the song began to play, and Gabriel rolled put of the driveway and down the road, right as the four brothers all began to sing along. 

~~~~~

“Alrighty Sammy,” Dean announced, giving his brother a hearty pat on the back, “you go and have a good first four periods, and I’ll see you in art and lunch, okay?”

 

Sam nodded. “Okay.” 

 

Dean patted Sam on the back again. “Now go on to your geometry class.” 

 

Sam heaved his backpack up and, as Dean asked, walked towards his Geometry class, waving goodbye to Dean all the while. Dean waved back to him before going to his own first period class. 

 

When he reached his geometry class, it was mostly empty, given how early he was. The teacher, a somewhat tall man with dark hair, placed a calculator at Sam’s desk, before placing a calculator at every other desk in the room.

 

The calculators ended up being just so that the teacher could explain how they were used and what for.

 

Sam’s next class was Law Studies, and the teacher, a really tall man with dark hair and a british accent, stood in front of the class and announced the assigned seats. 

 

Sam had been placed next to a kid named Andy, whom he had noticed on the first day, sitting in the back corner. When he sat down next to Andy, Andy didn't say anything. 

 

Not one to be deterred, however, Sam held put his hand. Andy seemed a bit perplexed, but he took it nevertheless.

 

“Hi. My name’s Sam, Sam Winchester. What's yours?”

 

“Andy.” He replied, taking Sam’s hand hesitantly. “Andy Gallagher.”

 

“Are you a freshman?”

 

Andy nodded. “Yeah.”

 

“Do you know anything about this school?”

 

Andy shook his head. “Nah. I moved here in February, so I don't know much.”

 

“Really? I also just moved here, but in July.” 

 

Andy perked up a little. “Huh. Then I guess we’re both newbies here.” 

 

Sam nodded right as the teacher began to tell the class what they were doing that day. Apparently, the teacher was to hand out a letter to home, then just explained the course and what they would be doing over the course of the school year. Sam listened intently to every word, eager to start the class. His dream was to become a lawyer, which was specifically why he had chosen this class in the first place.

 

The teacher talked for a surprisingly long time, but he finished around ten minutes before the class ended, so he left everyone to their own devices as he went to his desk. Sam and Andy struck up a conversation, talking endlessly about being the new kids in town and what they thought of the city so far. Andy didn't really seem to care for it, saying that he moved around so much that he never got attached to one place. Sam, however, loved the city, and went on and on about what he loved about it and how excited he was to be there. 

 

About five minutes before the bell rang, a girl with light-colored hair approached Sam. When he glanced up to look at her, she smiled pleasantly and held out her hand. 

 

“Hi, I heard you're new in town. My name’s Jess.” 

 

“Sam.” He replied, holding out his hand to shake hers. “Have you been in this town awhile?”

 

“I was born here, and I’ve never moved. I’ve just been living here all my life.” She tilted her head. “Where are you from? I’m guessing you’re new.” 

 

“Kansas.”

 

“Oh, really? I’ve wanted to visit Kansas. My aunt lives there, but she always visits us instead of us visiting her.” 

 

“Well, it’s a cool state, but I much prefer here.” 

 

Jess just gave a small smile, and the bell rang just seconds later. She kindly bid him farewell and took off, as he himself also went to his next class.   
Sam’s next class was French 1, and he didn't know anyone in the class, but he liked it regardless. The teacher, Mr. Anthony, had the same first name as him, which he found interesting. The teacher was also actually French, having been born and raised in France. Given that, he knew a lot about France and its culture, and was happy to tell the class about it. 

 

Sam’s fourth and biggest class was Culinary, led by a teacher named Ms. Ramsumair. She explained that the first thing they were going to make was a simple one: pancakes. Sam got paired up with some kid that sat next to him, and the two worked tirelessly until their pancakes were finished. Right as they finished them, the bell rang, and everyone took off to their fifth period.

~~~~~

By lunch time, Dean was quite ready to eat and quite done with school for the day. His classes had all been quite long and he didn’t really have the motivation to do much that day. 

 

He and Sam walked together to lunch, but to their surprise, saw Charlie also walking to lunch. When they cried out for her, she wheeled around and faced them.

 

“Sam! Dean! I didn't realize we shared a lunch period.” 

 

Dean glanced at the cafeteria. “Me neither.”

 

“Do you guys wanna sit at my table, then? I have a couple people I could introduce you to.” 

 

Both Sam and Dean nodded eagerly, so Charlie led them to a table near the windows, which was apparently her usual table. Two people were already sitting there, chatting happily to one another. When Charlie sat down with Sam and Dean, the two people at the table turned their heads. 

 

“Charlie hey! Who’s this?” Asked the girl, tilting her head curiously.

 

“Oh guys, these are my new friends, Sam and Dean Winchester. Sam and Dean, these are my friends Jo and Benny.” 

 

“It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Said the boy with a thick Louisiana accent. He held out his hand and Dean graciously took it. “You two new? I don't think I’ve seen you two ‘round here.” 

 

Sam nodded and opened his lunchbox. “We’re from Kansas. We moved here in July.” 

 

Jo tilted her head and paused, placing her snack bar down. “You two are from Kansas?” When Dean nodded, Jo tilted her head again. “I was born in Kansas. My mom and I lived in Kansas City for a few years, until my dad died, and we moved out here.” 

 

“Oh, so you lived less than an hour away from where we lived.” Dean shoved a cupcake from his lunchbox into his mouth, then wiped his hands. “We lived in Lawrence.” 

 

Jo took a bite of her snack bar and quickly wiped her mouth. “How crazy is that then, we were so close and yet we never met?”

 

Dean nodded. “Pretty crazy.” 

 

All of a sudden, a yelp was heard from the opposite side of the lunch room, followed by roars of laughter. Dean and Sam both lifted their heads, confused. Charlie glanced up for a brief second and clicked her tongue.

 

“Looks like the trickster’s at it again.” She remarked as they saw a kid who had been doused in glitter. Sam turned his head. 

 

“Trickster?”

 

Charlie held up a french fry and bit into it. “Yeah, otherwise known as the infamous Gabriel Novak. People call him the trickster because he pulls a lot of pranks. We’d have called him the prankster, but apparently he prefers the title of trickster.” 

 

“Does he prank just anyone?”

 

“He pranks mostly his siblings or people he doesn’t like. Though, he does target random people every once in a while. Last year he went after a group of three freshmen. He hid in the bathrooms and threw toilet rolls that looked like poop at them.” 

 

Dean cocked his head. “Seriously?”  
Charlie nodded. “Seriously. No one knows why he hasn’t been suspended for a prank yet, but there’s a rumor his aunt is the principal.” 

 

“Or that he’s just ridiculously charming when he wants to be.” Jo suggested. “I was in debate with him last year. He won a lot of arguments in there. Granted, he was very ridiculous, but still very persuasive.” 

Charlie shrugged. “Still, his aunt being the principal sounds better.” She then grabbed a french fry and shoved it into Jo’s face. Jo took the french fry and threw it back at Charlie, who ducked and threw a fry back at Jo. 

 

As Charlie and Jo threw fries back and forth, Dean joined in and also threw fries. Sam just talked calmly to Benny about the school and soulmates. Benny seemed to have a similar outlook on soulmates to Sam, which he appreciated. And so, the two talked endlessly until the bell rang, and the group of five left for their next class. 

~~~~~

It was surprisingly by time Gabriel, Balthazar, Castiel and Samandriel got home. Given how Lucifer had gotten home before them, they'd expected to hear some noise- but the house was relatively subdued and quiet. 

 

The TV was on in the main living room, playing the Avatar The Last Airbender series as Jack sat happily on the couch, holding his kitten Marble in his lap. He waved to them when they walked past him, pointing eagerly at the screen. 

 

Other than the TV, there wasn't much noise. It seemed as though anyone who was in the house were in their rooms, not making much noise.

 

“Cas! Hey Cas!” Jack exclaimed, holding his arms out. “Look! I’m feeling better!”

 

“That's great, Jack.” Cas replied with a smile. He set his backpack down and walked over to Jack, glancing briefly at the TV. “You watching your favorite show?”

 

“Mhm.” 

 

“Well, that's good.”

 

Cas ended up sitting down next to Jack, who was near the end of season 2 of his show. Samandriel caught interest and sat down on the couch as well, watching the TV eagerly.

 

Gabriel and Balthazar, however, both went upstairs, wondering where Lucifer even was. Turns out, he was in his room- as they discovered when they swung his door open.

 

“Can't you two ever fucking knock?!?” Lucifer cried after getting startled from the suddenness of the door opening. He sighed and hung his head forward for a second. “I have a _do not disturb_ sign on my door for a reason.” 

 

Gabriel just shrugged his shoulders and then crouched down, holding his arms out as Lucifer’s pitbull ran towards him and began licking Gabriel’s face.

 

“Freddy! Freddy, c’mere,” Lucifer held his arms out, catching his dogs attention. Freddy ran to Lucifer instead, as Lucifer stuck his tongue out at Gabriel.

 

“How immature, Luci.” Gabriel remarked, rolling his eyes. “Why’re you being so quiet up here anyways? We thought you’d be blasting rock music again.”

 

Lucifer cocked a brow. “Do you _want_ me to be noisy?” 

 

“Not at all, it's just surprising you’re being quiet.”

 

Lucifer huffed in indignation and turned to face his desk. “I’m making a list of everything I’ll need for my party.” 

 

“Your party? Oh, right, your party.”

 

Lucifer nodded and held up a list. “Should I add anything else?”

 

Balthazar took a quick glance at the list and shrugged. “Well, you could add a personality to the list.”

 

“Oh shut the fuck up.” Snapped Lucifer.

 

“I’m just sayin’.” 

 

“Yeah well your words aren't welcome. Now get out of my room!”


	4. Birthday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cas and Balthazar cebrate their birthday. Dean and Sam meet some of Charlie's friends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so, in case y'all didn't know, i've hit a roadblock writing this story. idk when the next chapter will be out, but hopefully in the next seven weeks. i'll see y'all soon. thanks for being patient

The Novaks had learned over many years that it was very hard to break Cas’s concentration as well as to wake him up. An avid writer and reader, whenever Cas was heavily focused on his hobbies, or just sleeping, barely anything would tear him out of it. Except maybe his door being slammed open.

 

And so, on one Sunday morning, that’s exactly what they did.

 

Cas’s door was thrown wide open by Hannah, who stood confidently in the doorway with a card in hand. Behind her stood Balthazar and Claire, smiles on their faces.

 

“Cassie! Cassie wake up, it’s your birthday!!!” Claire exclaimed, running up to him. She jumped onto his bed and began shaking him, a grin on her face as she tried to get him up. 

 

Cas groaned tiredly and rolled over onto his side, wheezing as Claire shook him. She eventually jumped off of him and instead went over to Gemini and began stroking her fur, cooing at her while Cas stumbled awake. 

 

“What time is it?” Cas groaned, rubbing at his eyes to try and wake himself up. 

 

“Half past get the hell up.” Balthazar replied, grabbing his twin’s hand impatiently. “C'mon Cas, mom got cake. _Cookie cake_.”

 

The sound of cookie cake actually perked Cas up, and he sat upright as Hannah handed him a card.

 

“Cmon, everyone’s downstairs and Aunt Amara will be here in three hours.” 

 

“Doesn't Aunt Amara usually visit between Gabe’s birthday and ours?”

 

“Yeah well,” Hannah shrugged, “Gabe turns 18 this year, so ‘pparently Aunt Amara decided he deserves his own special visit instead of sharing one with you two.”

 

Balthazar nodded, a shit-eating grin on his face. “Gabe’s very thrilled.” 

 

Cas held back a small chuckle at that statement, choosing to finally stand up. “I’ll be downstairs in a minute.”

 

“Alright, well, we have to go together, since today's both of our birthdays, so I’ll wait outside.” Balthazar remarked, holding the door open as Claire and Hannah walked out. Once they both left, Balthazar walked out into the hall and closed the door behind him. 

 

Cas took the chance of solitude and silence to grab some clothes to change into. He found an old shirt he had gotten for his 14th birthday, one that surprisingly still fit him- granted, it had been two sizes too big for him at the time- that he deemed appropriate for the day. It was a worn Pet Sematary t-shirt, given to him by his Aunt Amara after she found out he liked Stephen King. There were a few stitched-up holes in it, and it definitely looked worn, but it was one of Cas’s most comfortable shirts, so he tugged it on regardless. He also grabbed a pair of jeans and patted his hair down so it would look somewhat neat, before opening his door.

 

Balthazar was still standing outside his door, and was wearing one of his favorite shirts- a black tee with the ‘but that's none of my business’ kermit meme print on it, which he wore nearly once a week, every week. 

 

When Cas emerged from his room, Balthazar grabbed his twin brother’s hand and took off towards the stairs, dragging poor Cas along with him. Balthazar dragged him downstairs, where sure enough, the entire family was waiting. 

 

Becky was standing near the kitchen island, holding Jack in her arms and bouncing him around while he laughed all the while. Chuck was standing at the kitchen bar, holding his and Becky’s dog Alex, a little 9 year old border terrier who kept yapping his mouth off. Lucifer and Gabriel were both sat at the bar, debating over the Texas Chainsaw Massacre movies while Lucifer’s dog, Freddy Krueger, slept peacefully at Lucifer’s feet. Raphael was on the couch, skipping through TV channels as Hael sat curled up next to him, scrolling through an app on her phone. Anael, Samandriel, Hannah, Claire and Anna all sat at the dining table- Anael and Anna were talking avidly about their new classes, while Claire talked to Samandriel and Hannah occasionally made a remark while glancing at her phone, immersed in the comic she was reading. 

 

When Cas and Balthazar got downstairs, however, everyone soon abandoned whatever they were doing (except for Becky, who continued to hold Jack in her arms) and instead either walked over to the twins or just stood up.

 

“Happy birthday you two!” Chuck cried, hugging both boys. Alex barked relentlessly at his feet, but Chuck ignored him. 

 

“Thanks, dad,” they both replied, hugging him right back. As each of them pulled away, they were engulfed in hugs by their siblings- first Lucifer, who nearly made Cas pass out; second by Gabriel, who thankfully wasn't as hyped up on sugar as he usually was; thirdly by Anna, who actually shook both of them; and eventually by all of their siblings, even Raphael, who gave an awkward nod to both of them in the process. 

 

Sure enough, just as Balthazar had promised, there was indeed cookie cake on the kitchen island- it had a decoration of a bunch of balloons with some words that Cas couldn't yet fully discern written in icing. 

 

To Cas’s surprise, it was already 11 am by the time he had been dragged downstairs. So, while the cake and cards were for later, Becky did have a birthday breakfast and Cas and Balthazar’s favorites- delicious buttermilk waffles and maple syrup with cinnamon rolls for Cas, and lemon scones with a small bit of strawberry shortcake on the side for Balthazar. All the dishes had been expertly made by Becky, who was actually a pretty good cook and always made birthday breakfast meals everytime there was a birthday. 

 

Apparently, everyone besides Cas and Balthazar had eaten by that time, so while Cas and Balthazar ate their birthday breakfasts, Becky turned on one of their favorite movies- Megamind. 

 

Their actual birthday party with their friends had been the day prior, since it had been a Saturday, so today was much more relaxed. As soon as the boys finished their breakfasts, they sat on the couch and watched the movie eagerly. While the two boys _had_ wanted to watch a different movie, preferably either Jaws, Jurassic Park or Pet Sematary, they settled on watching Megamind, given that Jack and Claire were both in the room and their favorite movies would probably be a bit much for Jack and Claire- or at least Jack. 

 

It was during the movie that a knock came at the door; a loud and modulated knock, as though practiced and done over a thousand times before. 

 

Everyone in the house knew exactly who was at the door- Chuck ran over to the door, and sure enough, Aunt Amara stood outside, a practiced smile on her face. 

 

“Amara, it's good to see you!” Chuck exclaimed, holding his arms out. Amara tilted her head and held her arms out as well, pulling her baby brother into her arms.

 

“Chuck, it's been a while. How’s that writing job treating you?”

 

“Good, good.” Chuck then turned to face Amara’s wife, who stood politely behind Amara. When Chuck held his hand out, she took it graciously.

 

“Chuck, it's been too long. I trust life is well?”

 

“It is. I trust life is well for you too, Rowena?”

 

She smiled politely and tilted her head, letting her hair fall onto her shoulder. “It is. Crowley, dear, come inside.” 

 

Rowena’s son grumbled slightly but followed her inside, signaling for his son to follow him, and Chuck closed the door behind them. 

 

“We’re watching Megamind in the living room.” Chuck led the way, and Amara, Rowena, Crowley and Gavin followed into the living room, where they were greeted by Becky and the Novak children. As Amara sat down on the couch, Lucifer nudged Gabriel in the side and and Gabriel nearly punched him in return. The two boys would have fought right then and there, had Anna not given them both a strict glare. Gavin ran over to the couch and sat next to Jack, eagerly talking to him. Despite Gavin being only four years old, he was close friends with Jack and they loved to talk whenever they saw each other. 

 

By the time the movie was over, it was already lunchtime. Becky made hotdogs for everyone, as Balthazar had asked for hotdogs. Cas preferred hamburgers, but he liked hotdogs just the same, so he ate them without complaint. After hotdogs came cake, one which Becky had bought from a nearby bakery. 

 

It was a decently simple cookie cake with a simple icing decoration: two balloons with the words “Happy Birthday Balthazar and Cas” written above them. 

 

“We would've had them write Castiel,” Becky remarked, “But we went with Cas since we were worried they’d misspell Castiel.” 

 

Cas shrugged his shoulders. “Well, it still looks really good. Thanks mom.” 

 

Becky smiled, nodded, and placed two candles on each end of the cake. As everyone gathered around the table, Cas and Balthazar stood awkwardly in front of the cake, holding hands and silently begging to get it over with. 

 

Unfortunately for them, the Novak family loved birthdays, and liked to make a big deal out of birthdays. And so, the Novaks gathered around and sang loudly as Cas and Balthazar stood very awkwardly, silently begging to be anywhere else. Lucifer and Gabriel especially got a kick out of it, being dramatic as all hell and ending the song with dramatic solos. Balthazar and Cas couldn't wait to repay the favor at Gabriel’s birthday party. 

 

Once the song finished, Cas and Balthazar blew out their respective candles, to a loud applause. Once the applause ended, Becky cut a large slice for both boys and handed them their plates first. Jack and Gavin got theirs second, mainly since Gavin was yet to fully grasp that when it wasn't his birthday, he didn't get cake first and wasn't being celebrated. 

 

After Jack and Gavin, the cake was passed around the room. Gabriel took perhaps the largest slice, being so sugar-addicted. Lucifer also got a larger slice, mainly because he didn’t want Gabriel’s dramatically big slice to outshine him. 

 

Amara was the only one to refuse cake, but everyone else eventually got a slice and the cake was gone before anyone could get a second piece. Regardless, Gabriel still tried to beg for a second slice and even attempted to steal a small piece of Lucifer’s slice, prompting Lucifer to whack him over the head with a paper plate- something that wasn't necessarily all that bad, but Lucifer always found a way to let his wrath out with anything in his possession. 

 

After cake of course came presents, and boy were the twins overwhelmed at the pile of presents waiting for them- approximately sixteen presents each. Most came from Chuck, Becky or their siblings, and 3 came from Amara and her wife. 

 

For Cas, he got a new computer and camera, some books and clothes, painting supplies and some new notebooks. Balthazar, meanwhile, got some new clothes, a camera, a cookbook, a DVD of songs by The Classic Crime, a Slytherin banner and a ‘my heart will go on’ DVD that he promptly chucked at Lucifer’s head.

 

Lucifer ducked, but it wasn’t long before Balthazar was chasing Lucifer up the stairs, trying adamantly to hit him over the head with the DVD while Becky tried to stop them and Chuck just sighed and ignored it. Becky ran up the stairs after them, crying their names, as Chuck just turned back to Cas and handed him a gift card to one of his and Balthazar’s favorite restaurants, Applebees. 

 

“Here, I _was_ going to give it to Balthazar, but he’s currently throwing a DVD at Lucifer’s head. Just don’t give it to Balthazar unless he stops throwing DVDs at Lucifer.”

 

“Dad, Lucifer gave him a DVD of the titanic song,” Anna interrupted, holding back laughter, “and Balth hates the titanic song.” 

 

“That is true. I guess it _is_ justified, but I still won’t give him the gift card.” 

 

“That’s a good idea.” Anna laughed, before finally bursting into laughter alongside most of the others. Even Crowley had started laughing, mainly because he loved whenever someone threw something at Lucifer. (He and Lucifer didn’t get along)

 

Even Cas had let out a chuckle. It was then that they heard a crash and a scream, followed by another crash and another scream. They soon realized that Lucifer had yet again jumped out of his window and took off down the street, while Balthazar jumped out after him all while Becky screamed after them. 

 

In seconds, Becky was downstairs, but no longer determined to chase after the boys. “They’ll come back,” she had said with a tired expression, “and I’ll scream at them then.” Gabriel cackled at that, knowing that Balthazar and Lucifer would _definitely_ be chewed out relentlessly. 

 

Sure enough, when both boys eventually returned, Becky’s screams could be heard all the way upstairs. The other kids just laughed or shook their heads, quietly thinking “that's what you get” before ultimately bursting into laughter. 

 

At least Gabriel had managed to film enough of it to send to Lucifer’s boyfriend, Michael. Michael of course shook his head. “I can't believe I’m dating him.” 

 

~~~~~

 

“So where am I taking you?” Bobby inquired as he set Sam’s bag in the car.

 

“Our friend Charlie’s house,” Sam replied with a smile, “she’s gonna introduce us to some friends of hers.” 

 

“Ah, okay.” Bobby stood a little straighter, turning his head as Dean came running out of the house, his bag in hand. “And you two are gonna spend the night?”

 

“Mhm.” 

 

“I’ll need to meet her parents first.” 

 

Sam nodded as Dean climbed into the shotgun seat. Sam climbed into the back as Bobby finally climbed into the driver’s seat and turned the car on. 

 

The three of them reached Charlie’s house rather quick, as she lived a mere six minutes away from them. Charlie lived in a rather pretty, quaint little house- it was a single story house in a roundabout, with a pretty driveway and flowers alongside the walkway- ones Bobby guessed were some type of rose. A dark-colored sedan sat in the driveway, one they guessed belonged to her parents. 

 

The door swung open before Dean even reached it, and Charlie stood there, a smile on her face, her arms out. “Dean! Sam! I’m glad you could come over!” Her smile spread as she turned her head and waved her arms to someone inside. “Mom, they're here!” She turned back. “A few of my friends are here already. I assume your dad will wanna meet my mom.”

 

Dean nodded, and cocked his head as Bobby walked towards them. Moments before Bobby even reached the door, a pretty, demure woman with long hair appeared in the doorway behind Charlie, a pleasant smile on her face as Bobby reached the door.

 

“It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Winchester. My name’s Karen Bradbury, I’m Charlie’s mother.”

 

“Bobby Singer, pleasure.” Bobby took the woman’s hand and shook it politely. “I won't be doin’ much if you need to get ahold of me later on. The boys shouldn't cause too much trouble.” 

 

“Oh, I’m sure they won’t.” Karen replied with a smile. Bobby simply nodded, bid both brothers farewell, and went back to his car, driving off back towards the house. By time Bobby pulled out of the driveway, Dean and Sam had walked itl the house, and Charlie had closed the door behind them.

 

“That's your mom?” Dean asked. Charlie nodded as her mom walked upstairs. “Do you look more like your dad, then?”

 

“She's my adoptive mom.” Charlie explained, a small smile still present on her face. “My real parents… they got into an accident when I was 12. Karen and her husband adopted me.” She tilted her head, ignoring the shocked expressions Sam and Dean both wore. “Was that your dad?”

 

“Basically.” Dean replied, and Charlie picked up on the tone Dean had replied with- a tone that clearly said he wasn't yet ready to talk about it. And so, Charlie didn't push any further, but rather led the boys upstairs and into her room, where a few people already sat, talking amongst each other. Once Charlie, Sam and Dean entered the room, the people sitting there paused momentarily. One of them, a girl with dark hair, stood up and held out her arms.

 

“You two must be Sam and Dean! The name’s Meg, it’s a pleasure.” She stepped forward and hugged both boys, pulling back with a smile on her face. “Charlie’s said quite a bit about you.” 

 

“It’s nice to meet you, Meg.” Sam replied, a smile on his face. Dean nodded in agreement.

 

“Oh, and these are my other friends,” Charlie exclaimed, gesturing to the others in the room, “meet Kevin, Ash, and Garth. And you guys already know Jo.” 

 

“Of course.” Jo replied with a grin, not bothering to sit up from her slouched over position. 

 

“It's nice to meet you two,” said one of the boys, a shorter one with dark hair, “my name's Kevin.” 

 

“I’m Garth!” Said the second boy, standing up to hug Sam and Dean. They both attempted to protest, but got trapped anyways. 

 

As soon as Garth finished hugging the two brothers, they turned to the third boy, whom they presumed was Ash.

 

Sure enough, the boy stood and glanced at both of them, introducing himself as Ash. 

 

“I hear you two are new.” Kevin remarked, clasping his phone in his hand. “Where did you guys move from?”

 

“We moved from Kansas.” Dean replied.

 

“Ooh, what part of Kansas?”

 

“We lived in Lawrence and then Lebanon.” 

 

“Lebanon?”

 

“It's a small town. I doubt you’d have heard of it before now.” 

 

“Ah yeah, no. Never heard of it.”

 

“Hey guys,” Charlie interrupted, “not to interrupt, but I _do_ have the Jurassic Park DVD, as promised. Who wants to watch it?”

 

Sam, Meg and Kevin all nodded their heads especially eagerly, while the others all nodded plainly.

 

“Perfect. Grab some popcorn and get ready for a classic.”


	5. A colorful party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lucifer’s party happens. Dean meets Cas, and Sam meets Gabriel. And of course, sparks and colors fly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i am so so sorry for the long ass wait!!! motivation is a bitch. as an apology, i present to you: a 4600 word chapter. enjoy!

It didn't take long for Sam and Dean to notice how loud the halls were today- they usually were loud, but they seemed a lot louder than usual. 

 

People around them buzzed with what seemed to be excitement, talking eagerly amongst themselves. 

 

“Hey Charlie,” Dean questioned at lunch, “what’s everyone buzzing about?”

 

“Oh, probably the party.”

 

“What party?”

 

“Lucifer Novak’s party.” Charlie cocked her head, taking a quick glance at a table near the corner window, “He always throws a party every year at the beginning of school. And every year, the entire school is invited. It's a pretty big deal.” 

 

“There's a kid here named Lucifer?” Sam asked incredulously, his eyes tinted with what seemed to be shock.

 

Charlie just nodded her head, seemingly unfazed. “Yep. He’s the oldest of the Novak siblings. Rumor is he got held back, but of course that's a confirmed rumor since he’s still here. He should have graduated in May.” She tossed a french fry into her mouth before continuing. “He’s the older brother of The Trickster, Gabriel Novak.”

 

Dean tilted his head. “How many siblings are there?” 

 

“I’m not sure. I know there's at least eight, but I heard a ninth sibling started this year. I don’t pay a ton of attention to them.” She cocked her head again, her eyes glancing around the cafeteria. “I should pay more attention, though. They're an interesting family from what I’ve heard.” 

 

“That is… a lot of siblings.” 

 

Charlie laughed. “Yeah, you could say that again. I personally don’t think I could ever survive having _that_ many siblings.”

 

“And here I thought having just Sam was bad enough!” Dean joked. Sam almost immediately slapped him. “Hey! Ow!”

 

“Jerk.”

 

“Bitch.”

~~~~~

“Do we really have to get seven different types of cookies?” Cas groaned, shaking the list Lucifer had given him. “Hardly anyone even eats the cookies! They usually just get drunk and dance.” 

 

“Big bro’s orders.” Balthazar sighed, grabbing a box of Chips Ahoy. “You know how batshit he gets over this party.” 

 

“Yeah, yeah, I know. It’d be nice if we didn’t have to get all this shit every year, though. I always wonder how Lucifer pays for it.”

 

“He never pays for his party stuff.”

 

“Okay well I wonder how _Dad_ pays for it.”

 

Balthazar just shrugged, taking another box of Chips Ahoy. His eyes glanced over a few other boxes before he snuck a box of Pocky off the shelf.

 

When Cas glanced at him and raised an eyebrow, Balthazar just hushed him and put it in the cart. “He won’t notice.” 

 

Cas had his doubts, but he kept quiet and pushed the cart into the next aisle. 

 

After cookies were sodas, then chips, then off to the register to purchase it all. Lucifer had given them $250 to spend, money he had gotten from Becky to spend on the party. They spent pretty much all of it, and had quite a few bags to carry by the time they got to Gabriel’s car. 

 

“I still don't understand why you couldn’t come in with us.” Balthazar complained, setting two bags down in the backseat. 

 

“I already told you: I drive you two here, you two shop. That was the deal.” Gabriel shot back, turning his eyes back to his phone. He was scrolling through his twitter absentmindedly, not paying much attention to the twins as they loaded the bags into the back seat. As soon as all the bags were loaded and the cart put back, Gabriel put his phone down and turned the car on. He clicked the screen of his phone for a few seconds, turning his music playlist on, and smiled when the first song to play was High by Sir Sly. He sang along as he pulled out of the walmart parking lot and began to drive, and even Balthazar nodded his head along to the song. 

 

By the time they got back home, Lucifer was already in full party-planning mode. Yes, the party was tomorrow, and yes, Lucifer still had plenty of time to actually decorate, but try telling that to him. As far as he was concerned, there was never enough time to decorate; any minute not spent planning and prepping was a minute wasted to him. 

 

And thus, he was going all around the house, making sure everyone would be ready tomorrow. Thankfully, for the Novak’s sanity, there weren't many decorations to put up, given that the party was a simple “start of school” type party rather than having a concrete theme, like Halloween or New Years. Lucifer still found ways to drive them all crazy, though.

 

He had tasked Samandriel, Gabriel, Michael and Castiel to making a giant joint playlist for the party, one that was long enough to play for six hours, minimum. A playlist that size meant at least 100 songs, which thankfully wasn't hard with a task force of four people putting songs in. 

 

Each of the four of them, in fact, had their own reasons for why Lucifer had picked them. Michael had been chosen as he knew Lucifer’s taste in music and his favorite songs, and he would definitely try and throw in a few of Lucifer’s favorite songs. Samandriel had been picked due to his very wide span of music taste- he liked pretty much anything and everything, and would definitely throw in some diversity in the song choice. Gabriel had been chosen only because he knew very popular songs and was very good when it came to tasteful songs- for example, he loved Panic! At the Disco, Imagine Dragons, Marina and the Diamonds and so much more. And lastly, Cas was picked because he knew very good but unheard of songs that he could put in to spice the playlist up a little. 

 

When Cas and Gabriel had returned, they set the bags of food down, left them to Balthazar, and took off to glance at the playlist so far and see if there was anything they could edit, add and/or remove. 

 

“Oh guys, hey! We put about thirty new songs into the playlist,” Michael began, pointing to the screen of the computer, which displayed a YouTube playlist accurately titled ‘September Party Playlist’, “If you two want to edit anything, you can.” 

 

Gabriel was the first to take a glance at the playlist, his eyes scrolling over the numerous songs in the playlist. “Make sure you add ‘Living Dead Girl’. Lucifer goes nuts over that song. And I wouldn’t put Devil Devil in, it's a pretty quiet song for the most part. Not good for a big party.” 

 

Samandriel clicked away at the computer, removing Devil Devil and replacing it with Living Dead Girl.

 

“Oh, and I’d add Apple Bottom Jeans. That is always a crowd pleaser. And Back In Black, if it isn’t in there alread- oh, you do have it! Nevermind then.”

 

“Cas, any input?” Samandriel asked politely.

 

“Hmm. Add a Miss Amani song, either Come On Now or Who’s on My Rocket. And an Icona Pop song. Maybe ‘Let’s Go’? It's by Tiësto and Icona Pop.” 

 

Samandriel nodded and typed eagerly away on the computer. “Noted.” 

 

“I didn’t know you listened to Miss Amani.” Michael remarked, raising his eyebrows.

 

“Oh I don’t. I just listen to nightcore every now and then, and you can find a lot of her songs nightcored. They're all pretty good dance-y songs.” 

 

“How did you get the Tiësto and Icona Pop song?” 

 

“It was in an episode of Hawaii Five O. Oh, on that note, add the song Out of Control by Switchfoot. It's a rock song, Lucifer will like it.” 

 

Samandriel once again typed away at the computer, picked a video that Cas pointed to, and put it in the playlist. 

 

“Alright,” Michael exclaimed, “We’re officially at eighty songs. Any others you guys want to add?”

 

Before Cas or Gabriel could reply, Lucifer appeared out of nowhere behind them. “How’s the playlist coming along?”

 

“Currently at eighty songs and approximately five hours.” Michael replied, showing the playlist off to Lucifer, who hummed approvingly.

 

“That’s good. You think you can get it to one hundred or so songs by ten tonight?”

 

“Won’t be a problem.” Michael replied with a smile, squeezing his eyes shut as Lucifer placed a kiss onto his cheek. 

 

Gabriel fake-barfed in the background as Lucifer then rushed off to take care of the snacks. Michael just gave Gabriel a quick “really” glare before turning back to the playlist.

 

“If you’re going to keep that up, you can help the others with the decorations.” 

 

“No, no, I’ll stay here.” 

 

“Then help with the playlist.” Michael shot a glance at Gabriel. “No judgement needed.”

 

Gabriel sighed and nodded. “Alright. But make sure to add ‘High’ by Sir Sly. It’s a good song, good for dancing to.”

 

Michael nodded and began typing away at the computer once again. 

~~~~~

The hour prior to the party starting went well- if you count Lucifer screaming his lungs out while Gabriel and Balthazar ran around the house well- as everything quickly fell into place. 

 

The playlist was finished early thanks to Michael, Samandriel, Gabriel and Castiel’s diligence (though Gabriel did admittedly goof off quite a bit) and contained one hundred and twenty songs- plenty enough for Lucifer, thank goodness- and would last the entire party and then some. All the snacks were out and ready, all the decorations in place and everyone ready to face the mob of people that were surely on their way. 

 

And so, after Lucifer barked out orders, everyone went to a specific part of the house, as they awaited the clock to strike ten.

~~~~~

“I don’t see why we have to be twenty five minutes late.” Dean grumbled as he pulled at a stubborn strand of hair. “Why can't we just head over now?”

 

“Main rule of a party, Dean,” Charlie chastised, “Always be fashionably late. That's how you get people talking!”

 

“I don’t want people talking.”

 

“Well too bad. Suck it up buttercup!” She exclaimed, giving him a pat on the shoulder. 

 

Dean sighed as Charlie let out a giggle and turned to face Sam. “Now, are ya ready kids?”

 

A murmur of assent was heard through the living room, as Jo and Benny both stood up, ready to leave. 

 

“Alright! Pile into Dean’s car and let’s go!”

 

“Be safe out there kids.” Bobby announced, standing in the doorway to the kitchen. He watched them all with expectant eyes as he dried off a drink glass. “Drive safely and watch your drinks.” 

 

“We will, Bobby.” Sam replied with a smile. 

 

“I trust you will, boy.” Bobby said, then he gave a nod as he disappeared back into the kitchen. 

 

With that, the five of them walked outside to the Impala, which they had all agreed to take to the party. (“I’d take my mom’s car,” Charlie had offered, “But she’d kill me if I did.”)

 

“Now, there’s one rule y’all should know about being in my car.” Dean announced, clicking away at his phone as he chose a playlist. “Sammy knows this well. Driver picks the music-“

 

“Shotgun shuts his cakehole.” Sam answered, sighing. 

 

“Well, as long as you don’t play some heavy metal music I’m good.” Charlie said, shrugging. “I’m not too picky when it comes to music.” 

 

“Well I am,” Jo interrupted, craning her head over the seat, “Please tell me you have Imagine Dragons in your playlist.”

 

Dean smiled and clicked shuffle, and the first song to play was _Back in Black_. Charlie exclaimed in joy while Jo and Benny both nodded approvingly. Sam, who actually didn't mind AC/DC, leaned his head against the window as he lip synced along to the song. 

 

The drive to the Novak’s house wasn’t that long- a mere five minutes- and they only got the chance to listen to two songs on the drive over. By the time they got to the Novak house, it was 10:30 and there was already a great number of cars parked along the street. Dean parked across the street from the house, then turned the car off as everyone climbed out.

 

The Novak house was, to put it simply, huge. It must have been two stories with a full attic that made it look like it was three stories, with the outside painted some light color- likely cream, but none of them could see colors and determine exactly what color it was. There was a tall fence around the property, and a beautifully done roof. The front door was one of the biggest doors Dean had ever laid eyes on, as he walked up to it with the others and knocked.

 

The door was almost instantly swung open by a tall, lanky boy with light hair and a v-neck shirt. “Ah! More guests! Welcome, welcome,” The boy cried joyously in a british accent, “Enjoy the party! And watch the punch, it’s already been spiked.” 

 

“Already?” Sam asked worriedly as they hurried inside, and the door was shut loudly behind them. 

 

It quickly made sense to them why there were so many cars- the house was full of people, all talking and laughing and dancing at a volume level that surely would call for a noise complaint in an instant. It was a surprise the police hadn’t been called yet.

 

Then, without warning, Charlie grabbed Jo’s hand and whirled to face the brothers. “Imma take Jo and find the dance floor. See ya ‘round 3!” And with that, she took off with Jo up the stairs. 

 

“Charlie!” Exclaimed Sam, but Charlie was already gone with Jo to the second floor, completely out of sight. 

 

“I’ll be off too,” Benny remarked, “Remember, we meet at the Impala ‘round 3am. On the way back, Kevin and Meg will be joinin’ us.” 

 

Dean nodded. “Got it.” 

 

Benny waved and walked off to find Kevin, leaving Sam and Dean alone at the front of the house. Before Sam could even say anything, Dean waved at him, remarked a simple “I’m gonna go find the snacks,” and was off, leaving Sam alone. Sam grumbled angrily at being left alone, before he walked off towards the quietest corner of the house he could find- which happened to actually be in the foyer. 

 

The full party was mainly taking place in the dining room, pool deck, basement and attic, so there was little reason for anyone to be in the foyer- except for the boy that had let them in, who seemed oddly entertained despite doing nothing but standing and waiting for more people to arrive.

 

And so Sam found himself standing in the foyer, watching YouTube videos on his phone as he attempted to avoid the crowds of people passing through, and avoided eye contact with the door boy.

~~~~~

Dean probably shouldn’t have ditched Sam so early into the party, but Dean needed food, and it’d probably be hard for the two of them to stick together the entire time, given how huge they both were. At least, that’s what Dean told himself as he walked to the dining room, where a table full of snacks laid.

 

As he made his way towards the snacks, he bumped into someone right next to him. As he quickly turned to apologize, he saw a pretty girl with dark hair and a kind smile.

 

“Sorry.” Dean murmured apologetically.

 

The girl smiled, waving her hand. “It’s fine. I know how guys can be with their food.” She let out a small laugh, tilting her head as her dark eyes studied Dean’s face. “Are you new? I don’t think I’ve seen you before.”

 

“Yeah. I transferred here over the summer. The name’s Dean, Dean Winchester.”

 

The girl nodded and held her hand out. “Lisa Braeden. It’s good to meet you Dean.” 

 

“It’s good to meet you too, Lisa. Say, why aren’t you drunk? Most people here already are.”

 

“I don’t feel the need to, or at least now right now, when it’s barely an hour into the party. Why waste most of the party blackout drunk, right?” She took a sip of the drink in her hand, before holding it up. “Cherry coke. Thankfully most of the sodas haven’t been spiked yet. Do beware of the punch, though.” 

 

“I’ll keep that in mind.” 

 

Lisa chuckled softly, before craning her head and groaning. “Ugh, my friend is trying to dance on someone. I gotta go, gotta stop her before she does something she’ll regret. It was nice meeting you Dean.” 

 

“Nice to meet you too.” Dean replied, as Lisa waved her hand and walked over to a girl with dark hair who was attempting a lap dance on some dude. 

 

Dean chuckled softly at the sight before turning his attention back to the table of snacks. There was chips and dips, cookies, a half empty plate of pigs in a blanket, an almost entirely ignored bowl of fruit, bowls of trail mix, a plate full of pretzels and an almost empty plate of pizza rolls- a pretty impressive display, if Dean said so himself. Then again, he rarely ever attended high school parties, so perhaps it wasn’t all that impressive. 

 

Regardless, he grabbed a plate, grabbed four pigs in a blanket, the final two pizza rolls, some chips and a little bit of dip and went to a slightly less crowded part of the house to find refuge to eat in peace. The house was incredibly crowded and so loud he was surprised he didn’t have a headache. 

 

He eventually found refuge on the second floor, albeit pretty much all of the rooms were closed off except for a single bathroom. Still, a surprising amount of the party guests were either in the attic, the living room or the basement, so the second floor was thankfully empty of all party goers except for two others who were also eating. It was surprisingly quiet, or at least more quiet than most parts of the house. It was almost completely absent of voices, with the only sound being the blasting of the song ‘C’mon’ by Kesha. 

 

And so, Dean ate and ate until his plate was empty, and he then found himself downstairs in the living room next to a flood of dancing (and mostly drunk) teens. 

 

Desperate to escape, he eventually found refuge in the basement, where there was a large group of kids sitting on the floor, watching the horror movie playing on the TV. The movie, he noticed, was The Shining, so he eagerly sat down next to some boy and glued his eyes to the screen, ignoring anything else that happened around him. 

 

Soon enough though, a boy came into the room with beers, and Dean, ignoring all rational thought, began to drink as the movie played on. 

~~~~~

One annoying thing that Cas had grown to deal with was the noise level that always accompanied Lucifer’s big parties. That, and crowds of drunk people and the ever-present pressure to get drunk and let loose. 

 

By the time the clock struck 11pm, he had already managed to avoid most of the party by staying in a relatively quiet part of the backyard. By midnight, he was hiding out on the second floor, eating cookies and praying no drunk person found him or threw up on him. 

 

By one am, however, he had been dragged back inside by a very drunk Lucifer, who slurred about how Cas needed to “enjoy himself” before handing him a cup of beer and slapping him on the back. Irritated but knowing Lucifer would just hunt him down later (Lucifer was surprisingly determined when drunk), Cas gulped down the drink, ignoring the horribly bitter taste. When he finished it off, Lucifer laughed, patted him on the back and ran off to some other part of the house, probably to force another one of their siblings to drink. 

 

“Did Lucifer make you drink?” Was the first thing that came out of Michael’s mouth the second Cas found refuge in the foyer, where Michael had been staying. 

 

Cas nodded.

 

“Ugh, of course he did. He’s already blackout drunk, isn’t he?”

 

Cas nodded again.

 

“What luck, what luck. My soulmate’s a blooming alcoholic.” Michael grumbled. “I’ll go find him. Just, stay here. Don’t drink anymore if you don’t want to.” 

 

Cas nodded, but rubbed at his eyes as his vision began to blur. Unfortunately for Cas, he was very much a lightweight- and a full cup of beer was more than enough to get him drunk.

 

Cas soon found himself down in the basement, where there was a second array of snacks and a horror movie playing on the TV. There was a group of kids dancing drunkenly to the song that was playing on the first floor, including a tall boy with light hair and an attractive face. As Cas approached the group, the boy handed him a red cup and laughed drunkenly.

 

Cas briefly inspected the cup, but, rational thought be damned, he downed the whole thing and stumbled forwards.

 

“Oof, not much of a drinker huh?” The boy slurred, tilting his head. 

 

“No.” Cas replied with a heavy slur, trying to keep his head up. 

 

Before he could process it, the boy held up Cas’s chin in his hand. “Your eyes are… really pretty.”

 

“I’ve been told.”

 

“No, they’re like, really, really pretty. They’re… They’re blue. Really really blue.” 

 

Cas was about to shake his head out of the boy’s grasp, but then he caught it- a flash of green. His eyes landed on the boy’s face, only to see a bright kaleidoscope of color- including a set of brilliant green eyes.

 

“Your eyes are pretty too,” Cas mumbled, “Really pretty. They’re really really green.” 

 

The boy smiled at that, and before Cas could even process it, the boy’s lips were on his. 

 

Perhaps he shouldn’t have allowed his first kiss to be when he was very drunk and definitely wouldn’t remember it, but he had long thrown rational thought out of the window, and so he moved his lips in sync with the boy and closed his eyes. 

 

Thankfully for the both of them, no one seemed to be paying attention.

 

The boy soon broke the kiss, instead craning his head as he stared intently at Cas’s face. Before the boy could kiss him again, Balthazar came out of nowhere and snatched Cas’s arm.

 

“Bro I am not letting you hook up with someone before I do.” Cas barely had time to glance at the boy before he was hurriedly dragged upstairs by Balthazar. 

 

“I was actually having a good time for once.” Cas complained sourly, trying not to slur his voice but failing spectacularly. Balthazar just shot him an annoyed glance. 

 

“Yeah well keep ‘having a good time’ and you’ll wind up with an STD.” Balthazar dragged him to the foyer and handed him a glass of water. 

 

“How are you not drunk, Balth?” Cas questioned, trying to focus his eyes on his twin brother’s face. 

 

“Oh I am,” Balthazar replied, downing a cup of water, “I’m just not a lightweight like you.” 

 

Cas groaned and downed the cup of water, which was crisp and a shock to Cas, whose throat already tasted bitterly of beer. 

 

“Just hide out in a bathroom if you need, bro, okay? And try not to drink anymore. You’re gonna end up passing out, or hooking up with someone and regretting it.” 

 

Cas nodded, before Balthazar patted him on the back and walked off, leaving Cas alone and wondering where the boy with brilliant green eyes was.

~~~~~

Sam was surprised when the clock hit 2:30 am and he had still managed to avoid getting drunk or getting puked on. 

 

Of course, his luck streak couldn’t last, as he discovered when a very drunk boy with light colored hair bumped into him. The short boy looked up at Sam, and a drunken grin spread across his face.

 

“What luck!” The boy exclaimed slurredly, tilting his head. “I was hoping to find a hot person here.” 

 

Sam tried to avoid the boy coming closer, and that’s when he noticed it- gold. Gold and brown and red and green and a brilliant display of colors that he had never seen before.

 

_Shit._

 

“Woah. You have… really pretty eyes.” The boy slurred, “They’re like a... uh… hazel color.”

 

“Yours too,” Sam mumbled, as the boy tilted his head curiously, “Yours are gold.”

 

“Gold? Ooh. Does that mean I’m pretty?” The boy gave a drunken giggle. “I’m Gabe Novak.”

 

“Nice to meet you Gabe, but I’ve got to go.” Sam explained hurriedly, before pushing past the boy and hurrying downstairs. _Just my luck,_ he thought. _I get the infamous trickster as my soulmate. And I was trying to_ not attract attention. 

 

Sam then walked out of the front door and walked hurriedly to the Impala, ignoring the boy’s drunken cries. Once he reached the Impala, he simply sat down on the grass and watched YouTube videos, trying avidly to pass the time and drown out any thoughts of Gabe or the color gold.

~~~~~

By the time the clock struck 3, Dean was completely wasted and surprisingly still standing. And by some miraculous string of luck, he was right by Kevin at the time, who was very eager to leave. 

 

“Come on Dean, it’s time to go.” Kevin grumbled, grabbing Dean’s arm. Dean initially protested, but went willingly after Kevin promised him lots of food at home.

 

People slowly started trickling out of the building, as Kevin dragged Dean outside. Sam was already by the Impala, preoccupied with whatever was on his phone. Meg was also there, chatting happily with Benny. Meanwhile Jo was trying to get Charlie up, as Charlie laid on the ground, babbling and giggling drunkenly. As Kevin dragged Dean across the street, Sam lifted his head and smiled. 

 

“Oh, Kevin, you’re here.” Sam exclaimed joyously, before glancing briefly at Dean, who was very obviously drunk. “I’m going to drive the Impala home with Dean, Jo and Charlie. You, Benny and Meg will take Meg’s car back to my house. Just have Benny follow me, okay?”

 

“Got it.” Kevin replied, handing the drunk Dean off to Sam. 

 

Sam sighed as he and Jo pushed drunk Dean and Charlie into the back seats. “Of course they got drunk.”

 

“I’m not surprised.” Jo murmured, sitting in between the two of them, both of whom quickly laid their heads on her shoulders. She turned her face to the road. “Your house?”

 

“Yep. Home.” 

 

Jo nodded as Sam pulled off the grass and rolled the Impala down the street. As he got going, he didn’t even glance back at the house where his soulmate stayed. He’d think about it more in the morning. For now, he just wanted to get home and sleep. 

~~~~~

“One party down.” Michael sighed as soon as the final person left the house, closing the door behind them. “Only three more to go. Yippee.” He turned to face the house, which was positively trashed. So far, the only siblings that were actually sober and/or still standing were Samandriel, Balthazar and Hannah. 

 

“Ay Samandriel, Balth and Hannah, help me get the others into their beds.”

 

Balthazar groaned but heaved Cas, who was passed out on the couch, and carried him to his room. Hannah, meanwhile, took care of Anna and Anael, while Michael took care of Lucifer and Samandriel carried Gabriel. As soon as the drunks were all put to bed, Michael sighed and turned to the other 3, who were all standing next to the railing of the stairs. 

 

“We’re gonna have a lot to do in the morning.” He groaned.

 

“Yeah, unfortunately. Let’s just go to sleep now, though. No use worrying about it at a quarter to 4 in the morning.” Hannah replied, making her way to her room. 

 

The others nodded, and by 4:15 am, everyone in the house was asleep.


	6. Kaleidoscope

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dean wakes up hungover and with the ability to see colors. Charlie begins the search to find Dean's soulmate, with him joining reluctantly. Meanwhile, Cas and Gabriel both discover they can see colors too, and scramble to think of clues that could lead to their soulmate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a lil bit of a shorter chapter but it's not meant to have much happen. anyways, surprise! i know last time it took me two months to update, so have a lil gift! i don't know when the next chapter will be up, but i'm hoping by the end of the year. regardless, enjoy!

The first sound that broke the silence of Saturday morning was groaning. Loud groaning. But with two horribly hungover people in the house, the sound wasn’t a surprise to any of those who were awake.

 

Dean was the last of the two that woke up- Charlie waking up about a half hour before him. Dean made his way downstairs into the kitchen, ignoring Arizona who was playfully barking at his side. Turns out he was the last person to even wake up,seeing as everyone else was already downstairs. 

 

Kevin had gone back to his house after the party, and Meg had left just shortly after Charlie had woken up. Benny, meanwhile, ended up just going back to his house, and Jo had to leave shortly after Charlie woke up. And so, the only one left was Charlie, sitting in the living room, happily talking to Sam. Once the sound of Dean’s footsteps were heard, the two of them looked up, followed by Sam immediately lifting himself off his seat. 

 

“Dean! You’re awake!” Sam exclaimed, walking over to his brother, who held a hand up to stop Sam from hugging him.

 

“My head is killing me. Do you have aspirin?”

 

“It’s over here boy,” Bobby remarked, sticking his head out from the kitchen, where he was fixing breakfast, “Bad hangover, I’m guessing.”

 

“Yeah.” Dean admitted softly, lowering his eyes.

 

“Ah well, part of being a teenager and goin’ to parties, ain’t it? C’mere, I’ll give you some aspirin. Just don’t drink as much next time.” 

 

Dean let out a small sigh of relief and smiled. “Thanks Bobby.” 

 

Bobby just nodded his head as Dean grabbed the bottle of aspirin from his hand. “You’re welcome, Dean.” 

 

Dean downed the medicine with some water and set the cup back down,. That’s when he noticed it: colors, and lots of them. Reds and blues and yellows, you name it. His own shirt was a brilliant red, with dark blue pajama pants to match. Bobby’s hair was a grayish brown, his eyes a deep gray-blue with flecks of brown, and his outfit mainly blue, white and gray. It was a kaleidoscope of color that Dean was not used to whatsoever. 

 

He set the glass of water down and walked instead into the living room, where Sam and Charlie were still sitting and talking. Charlie’s hair was a brilliant shade of red, while Sam’s hair was a beautiful shade of brown. 

 

Charlie seemed to notice the expression on Dean’s face, and she tilted her head, a confused expression of her own crossing her face. “Dean? Are you okay?” 

 

“Yeah, just…” Dean’s voice trailed off, his eyes instead glancing around the room, taking in all the colors. 

 

“Just what?”

 

Dean paused for a moment, before looking back at Charlie and contemplating. “Your hair’s red.”

 

There was a brief moment of silence to process what Dean had just said, but Charlie picked up on it first. She quickly stood up, her phone clattering to the floor as she stared at Dean in shock.

 

“You can see colors?” She exclaimed, as Sam quickly turned his head at the realization. Dean simply nodded, not understanding her reaction, but he quickly regretted it once he saw the expression that now laid on Charlie’s face. 

 

“Dean you can see colors?” Sam cried, staring at his brother in shock. “So- so you met your soulmate? When?”

 

“Must’ve been when I was drunk.” Dean replied, shrugging, and Charlie immediately groaned. 

 

“So you don’t remember them? Who they are, or any of that?” 

 

“No. All I remember is the color blue. I don’t know what it means though.”

 

“It could be something about their appearance.” Sam suggested. “Probably whatever you noticed first about them, like their eyes or something they were wearing.”

 

“Yeah, but I don’t remember anything else.” Dean remarked, glancing at his brother. “Just the color blue. I can’t even remember _what_ was blue.”

 

Charlie pursed her lips in thought. “Alrighty then. Dean, I’m going to help you find them.” 

 

“How are you going to do that?” 

 

“I’ll just get a list of everyone who was at the party.”

 

“Charlie,” Sam began, as she turned her head, “I’m all for helping Dean find his soulmate, but at least a quarter of the school was there. I don’t think they were keeping track of who was there.” 

 

Charlie groaned, before putting her hand up to her mouth and staring off, deep in thought. After a few moments of silence, she lifted her head. “I can still ask the sibling who hosted it, that Lucifer guy. From what I heard, he’s pretty particular with his planning. He might have some list of people who were either there or said they’d be there.”

 

“And what, are you gonna to go to their house again?” Dean asked. 

 

“Yes!” She turned her head, sighing. “Don’t you want to find your soulmate?” 

 

“Not really. Well, I want to meet them on my own, not by tracking them down. I hate the idea of being controlled by my fate. If I find them, I want it to be on my own time, of my own will.” 

 

“He’s not a big fan of soulmates,” Sam interrupted, as Charlie stared at Dean, perplexed. “He thinks by having a soulmate, you’re pretty much tied down to that person.” 

 

Charlie rolled her eyes slightly, then leaned down and grabbed her phone off the floor before turning to face Dean. “Okay, Dean, then how about this? You beat me in a game of AHS trivia, and I’ll let it go and we’ll do it your way. I beat you, and we go find your soulmate, my way.” 

 

“Deal.”

 

Charlie smiled as she whipped out her computer and quickly pulled up a trivia page. She smiled as she pulled up the questions, and told Sam to keep a tally of how many questions they each got right out of the 20 questions.

 

In the end, it was 19-18, Charlie just barely stealing the win. She laughed and clapped her hands in response, while Dean just groaned.

 

“I’ll make this easy on you, Dean.” She remarked, pulling out her phone, “I won’t tell anyone what we’re doing, nor will I say anything to anyone unless you give me your permission. I don’t want you to be too uncomfortable.” 

 

Dean sighed in relief. “Thank you Charlie.” 

 

That was the moment that Bobby chose to walk out of the kitchen, rubbing his hands with a towel. “What’s this I hear about a soulmate, Dean?”

 

Dean glanced up at Bobby with an inch of nervousness. “I, uh, met my soulmate last night. While I was blackout drunk. And now I can see colors, but I don’t even remember meeting them.”

 

Bobby paused for a moment in thought. “Well, I hope you find them boy. I know you aren’t a fan of the whole soulmate thing, but it is a truly wonderful thing to have one. Don’t waste it.” 

 

Dean looked somberly at Bobby, realizing Bobby was referencing his own soulmate, whom he had lost a few years prior due to illness. 

 

Dean nodded in understanding, before Charlie clapped him on the shoulder. “C’mon, let’s head to the Novak’s place.”

 

Dean begrudgingly agreed, as long as Sam went along with them. Sam, who, unbeknownst to Dean, was still hiding the fact that he could see colors, agreed to go solely to help Dean- despite his own discomfort at the chance of running into Gabriel again. Perhaps he shouldn’t have been as uncomfortable- Gabriel was his soulmate after all- but Sam knew it would bring attention to him and he wasn’t yet sure if he wanted to have the spotlight on him. 

 

Regardless, he followed Dean and Charlie outside to the Impala, as the latter hopped in the backseat and allowed Sam to ride shotgun. 

 

The car ride once again wasn’t that long, and they arrived rather quickly at the house, which was much prettier in the daytime. Not to mention Dean and Sam could now see colors. The house, as they had suspected, was a creamish color, with black trim and shutters, and a beautiful cherry oak door. 

 

Charlie lifted her hand and knocked three times on the door, and it was quickly swung open by a tall, lanky boy with dark hair and blue eyes.

 

“Who are you?”

 

“My name’s Charlie Bradbury. My friend Dean here lost his phone, and we’ve been retracing his steps. We think he lost it here.” 

 

The boy paused to think. “Alright, but be quick, please. We’re about to start cleaning up.” 

 

“Thank you, uh…”

 

“Michael.” The boy introduced, nodding. “I’m not a Novak, but I helped with the party.”

 

“Is it possible that we can get a list of some guests as well?” Sam asked, tilting his head. “Just in case someone stole his phone, ya know.” 

 

“We didn’t keep track of exactly who was here, but I do believe Balthazar kept a decent list of who he saw walk in and out. I can try fetching that for you, I don’t know if it’ll be much help.” 

 

“It’ll be plenty.” Charlie replied with a smile, so Michael nodded and walked off to fetch the list, closing the door behind the three. 

 

“So what are we supposed to do with the list?” Dean whispered. “I barely know anyone at this school. It’d be like… like searching for a needle in a haystack. It’s damn near impossible!”

 

Charlie just smiled. “I have my ways, Dean. I’ll help find them.” 

 

When Michael returned with the list, Charlie thanked him and she walked with Sam and Dean to the kitchen. Inside the kitchen sat a small boy with light brown locks, next to a chattering girl with long red hair. As Charlie approached the two, the girl stopped and faced them.

 

“Who are you three?” 

 

“My name’s Charlie, this is Sam and Dean.” Charlie replied. “We’re looking for Dean’s phone. He lost it last night.”

 

“He did? I do think I saw a phone in the basement.” The girl stood up and beckoned them. “Here, follow me.” Sure enough, the girl led them over to the basement stairs and began to descend. 

 

“Quiet morning, hm?” Asked Charlie as the girl led them into the basement.

 

“Nah, just a lazy morning. Most of them got hungover last night, and they’re all still sleeping.” She turned on the basement light and shook her head. “Lazy fucks.” She then stood and pointed to a phone laying on the couch, black case and a surprisingly uncracked screen. Dean walked over and turned it on, but shook his head. 

 

“It’s not mine. Have you seen any other phones?”

 

The girl shook her head. 

 

“I must’ve misplaced it somewhere else, then.”

 

The girl nodded and walked back to the first floor with them. “Alright. Well then, I wish you luck in your search.” 

 

The three of them nodded, before Charlie quickly took a picture of the list and handed it back to the girl. She took it and nodded, and the three of them left.

 

As soon as they sat back in the Impala, however, Dean turned and looked at Charlie. “Now what are you going to do with the list, now that you have it?”

 

“I have many sources. I’ll see if I can find anyone who was at the party and can see colors.” She closed out of the image and lifted her head. “It won’t give us a clear cut answer, but it will give us a narrowed list, at least.”

 

“People lie, Charlie.”

 

She pursed her lips and sighed. “If you don’t want to pay too much attention to finding your soulmate, I won’t force you to, Dean. But I will try to help if I can. Okay?”

 

Dean was silent for a moment, before he nodded. Charlie pulled out her phone, and as Dean rolled the car down the street, Charlie began typing away. 

~~~~~

It was 11 am by the time any of the hungover Novak siblings woke up- and Balthazar was surprisingly the first to wake up. He was followed about twenty minutes later by a very sluggish and slightly irritable Cas, who was clutching his head and groaning from his hangover. 

 

“Mornin’ Cassie.” Balthazar cried, as he saw Cas walking down the stairs. When Cas just groaned in response, Balthazar held the bottle of aspirin out for Cas to grab. Cas grabbed it and downed two pills with a glass of water than Balth also handed him. 

 

“Ay Cas, is Gabe or Luci up yet?’ Inquired Anna from her spot on the couch. Cas just shrugged his shoulders and rubbed at his eyes, desperate to get the tiredness out of his eyes. And that’s when he saw it.

 

A burst of colors, reds and yellows and greens and blues, all splashed across the house. Anna’s hair was a beautiful shade of red, Balthazar’s a dark, ashy blonde and Samandriel’s a light brown. Cas looked down at his own shirt, which was a dark red color. 

 

Balthazar seemed to catch the confused expression that was surely spreading across Cas’s face. “Cas? Bro, you good?”

 

Cas blinked his eyes, and lifted his head. “Blonde.” 

 

Balthazar tilted his head in confusion.

 

“Your hair. It’s blonde. Like ash blonde.”

 

Anna, who was sitting at the bar, fell out of her seat with a loud clatter. As Cas and Balthazar turned their heads towards her, she stood and advanced towards Cas. “You can see colors, Cas?”

 

“Wait what?!” Balthazar cried, staring at Cas, who was just as confused as he was. 

 

“What’s all this yelling?” Came a voice, and Balth, Cas and Anna turned their heads to see Gabriel coming down the stairs, yawning and rubbing his eyes. 

 

Anna pointed a finger at Cas. “Cas can see color.” 

 

Gabriel whirled his head at Cas. “Wait, you can?”

 

Cas shrugged and nodded. “Your hair’s gold.”

 

Gabriel lifted his head. “Your hair’s black. And your eyes are…” Gabriel suddenly swore to himself. “Shit! I can see colors too!”

 

Anna nearly fell over. “Are you fucking kidding me?? Michael! Michael you’ll never believe it!” She suddenly ran towards the stairs, waving her arms up. “Michael! Michael!”

 

Michael suddenly emerged on the stairs, glancing at Anna. “What?”

 

“Cas and Gabe can see color!”

 

Michael lifted his head and turned to stare at Cas and Gabriel. A bit skeptical, he walked over to the two of them. “Okay then, Cas what’s my eye color?” 

 

“Blue.”

 

Michael turned to Gabriel. “What’s Cas’s eye color?”

 

“Blue.” 

 

Michael’s eyes drifted from Cas to Gabriel, before he sighed and stood back. “Whelp, I guess this presents a problem, as I’m guessing you two were wasted as all hell and don’t remember shit.” When there was only silence, Michael rolled his eyes. “Of course.” 

 

“What are we gonna do?” Anna asked, tilting her head. Her eyes, which Gabriel and Cas noticed as being a beautiful hazel color, glanced briefly at the two of them before tracking back to Michael.

 

“I don’t know.” Michael replied. “Whoever their soulmates are, though, ought to be looking for them. Just keep an eye and ear out.” He patted both Cas and Gabriel on the shoulder. “You’ll find them. Just give it time, and keep looking.” 

 

Cas nodded in understanding, and Gabriel simply stood in thought for a moment.

 

“I do remember something.” He remarked, rubbing his chin. Anna’s head spun towards him, and Michael turned to face him. “I don’t remember their face or anything. All I remember is that they were tall. Oh, and brown. I think their hair was brown.” 

 

Michael frowned. “Tall with brown hair? That’s not a lot to go on.” 

 

“Well, I remember they were freakishly tall. Can’t be many freakishly tall people with brown hair.”

 

Anna’s eyes lit up. “Was it a guy or girl? Can you remember?”

 

“Guy, I think.” 

 

She let out a small squeal before calming down. “So, freakishly tall guy with brown hair. That’s definitely a start. Cas, what about you? Do you remember anything?”

 

Cas bit his lip. “Uh, green. I remember something green.” He frowned in thought, and ultimately shook his head. “I can’t really remember anything else. I just remember green.”

 

“Well, usually the first thing people notice about others is hair color and/or eye color. So either we’re looking for someone with green hair, or someone with green eyes.” 

 

“Green eyes definitely sounds more plausible.” Chirped Samandriel, who had been keeping relatively quiet the whole time. “But it’s still a rare eye color.”

 

“Which’ll make it easier to find this person.” Anna replied with fervor. 

 

“You’re in luck, Cas. There aren’t many people out there with green eyes.” 

 

Cas nodded. “So, I just gotta keep watch for someone with green eyes?”

 

Anna nodded.

 

“Yep, and I have to keep watch for a freakishly tall guy with brown hair.” Gabriel patted Cas on the back and gave a small laugh. “Hey! Now we have something that we can do together.” 

 

Cas let out a small laugh, and nodded. “That is true.”

 

Anna then slapped her hands together and laughed. “And we siblings can be the soulmate hunting team! I’d be glad to help my big bro and little bro find their soulmates!” 

 

“I’ll help too. Can’t have my twin bro being all lonely when his soulmate is out there.” Balthazar announced, wrapping his arm around Cas’s shoulder.

 

“Say, Balth, do you remember anything, like possibly seeing Cas’s soulmate?” Anna inquired.

 

Balthazar thought for a moment. “Not much. My memory isn’t the best when I’m drunk.” He paused, thinking. “I do remember rescuing you from the basement. I can’t fully remember why, but I think some guy was hitting on you. Could’ve been him.” 

 

Anna stared at Balth. “What guy?” 

 

“I don’t- oh! Now I remember! Some guy was making out with Cas, so I rescued him.” 

 

Michael and Anna turned their heads and stared at Cas, who sunk into Balthazar’s arms in shame. 

 

“Some guy was making out with you, Cassie?” Gabriel asked. His voice was surprisingly not teasing in any way, but rather protective- if someone had laid a hand on Gabriel’s lil bro, that person would have a hell of a problem rain down onto them. The sudden fire in Anna’s eyes seemed to indicate that she’d be just as eager to protect Cas. 

 

“I don’t really remember anything about the guy,” Balthazar started, wrapping his arms tighter around his brother, “Other than his hair looked to be a medium-ish color, and he was tall.” 

 

Anna extended a hand and touched Cas’s arm. Cas wasn’t particularly ashamed of making out _with a guy_ , as his family had always been fully accepting (“Soulmates are soulmates,” Becky had once said firmly, “Regardless of whether its two girls or two guys.”), but more the fact that he had made out with some random person at the party, even if that person could very well have been his soulmate. 

 

“Well, we’ll find your soulmate, Cas.” Anna murmured. “And I don’t judge you. We’ve all done stupid shit while drunk. At least you’re not as bad as Luci.”

 

“You don’t even compare to Lucifer,” Michael assured Cas, “One time, he downed two whole bottles of beer, started head banging to beethoven and dry humped a wall. Kissing some stranger is pretty tame, compared to that.” 

 

Cas nodded, and a faint smile curved onto his lips at the immediate acceptance and lack of judgement. 

 

“Now,” Anna cried, raising her fist into the air, “let’s find your soulmates!”


	7. School colors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dean and Sam return to school and get a surprise. Gabriel turns 18 and Cas returns to school.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> merry christmas and happy holidays!!! here’s my christmas gift to y’all- a new chapter!

The sudden ringing of the alarm clock was a harsh break to the comforting silence of the early morning- and to Dean’s dream, which was actually a good one for once, rather than a nightmare. He groaned and rubbed his eyes, doing a small double-take at the exploding colors in his sight before remembering the prior two days. 

 

He groaned again and hung his head. “Just fantastic. It wasn’t a dream.” He pulled the blanket off of himself, letting his feet rest on the unbelievably soft floor rug for a fleeting moment before finally standing up to face the day. 

 

As he shucked his black AC/DC shirt off, a knock came at his door. 

 

“Come in.” He called, running a hand through his hair. The door swung open to reveal, to no surprise, Sam. He stood there, wide-eyed, a smile on his face. “Now why are you so happy, Sammy? It’s a monday.” 

 

“Yeah, but we also can go to school and see how good Charlie’s detective skills are.” Sam replied with a smile, and Dean shifted his eyes. “Oh, and Bobby made waffles.” 

 

The sound of waffles actually perked Dean up, so he shooed Sam out of his room so he could finish getting dressed. He tugged on a gray Star Wars shirt, a red flannel and a pair of jeans, patted his hair down, then headed downstairs. 

 

Sure enough, Bobby had made the boys waffles, a surprisingly large mound of waffles that Dean wasn’t sure he could even finish. Then again, ever since they had come into Bobby’s care, they had never ended a single day without a full and happy belly. 

 

Bobby was often in the kitchen when they were home, always cooking up something for the boys to eat. 

 

Whenever they had asked him why he cooked so much, he’d smile and just say that it was something to remember his wife by. 

 

“Mornin’ Dean.” Bobby remarked gruffly, handing Dean a plate of waffles.

 

“Mornin’ Bobby.” Dean replied with a nod, taking his plate as he sat down. That was when Arizona emerged, wagging her tail happily. She was followed by Sam cooing at her, laughing as he ran his fingers through her fur. Dean couldn’t help but smile at the sight. 

 

“Dean,” Bobby murmured, as Dean turned his head, “How’s your therapy been going?”

 

Dean pursed his lips and shifted his eyes for a brief moment. “It’s been alright.”

 

“You do like your therapist, right? I can get ya a new one.”

 

“Yes, I like her, she’s a good therapist. I guess I’m just still adjusting to the visits.” 

 

Bobby nodded his head in understanding. “I can imagine, boy. Not easy to talk about those things.” Bobby gave Dean a small, reassuring pat on the shoulder. “You’ll get better. But don’t forget your appointment today. 4:30.”

 

Dean nodded and shoved a forkful of waffle into his mouth. Meanwhile, Sam finally ceased petting Arizona and sat down, took a plate of waffles and ate them up happily. 

 

The two brothers finished off a total of six plates of waffles each (Dean taking four and Sam taking two) before it was finally time for them to head out. They both grabbed their backpacks, bid farewell to Bobby, walked out the door and hopped into the Impala.

 

“Ready to face the day, Dean?” Sam asked, zipping up his backpack. He lifted his head and gazed at Dean, who rolled his eyes and groaned.

 

“No.”

 

Sam bit back a laugh as he instead opted to just smile. “Well, the day will be over soon enough. Mondays never last too long.” 

 

Dean pursed his lips and fiddled with his phone, searching for a song to play on the ride to school. “They always seem to last longer than I want them to, though.” His fingers finally landed on a tasteful song- Immigrant Song by Led Zeppelin- and he placed his phone in the cup holder as the music began to play. 

 

As soon as the song started, Dean dug the keys into the ignition and rolled the car out of the driveway, before heading off towards the school. He and Sam had a small conversation during the ride- mainly just about small little things, like movies and pop culture. The ride didn’t seem to last long enough.

 

Before either of them anticipated, Dean was pulling into the student parking lot. As he stuffed his phone back into his pocket, he turned the car off and followed Sam towards the school. 

 

Charlie was waiting for the both of them, sitting outside at a small table, tapping away at her phone. When she saw them, she stood and waved, a smile on her face. As soon as they got closer, though, she glanced at Dean and laughed. 

 

“What is it?” Dean questioned, glancing skeptically at Charlie, who held her hand over her mouth to stop herself from laughing.

 

“Okay, I say this with no offense, but you’re dressed like a lesbian.” She laughed, taking a moment to scan the flannel he was wearing. “What color is it?”

 

“Red and black.”

 

“Exactly my point.” She laughed, her eyes twinkling. Dean just sighed and glanced at her. 

 

“Alright. What’s got you so happy on a Monday?” Dean inquired.

 

“Well,” Charlie began, calming herself, “I’d tell you but I don’t wanna force it in your face first thing in the morning.”

 

Dean tilted his head inquisitively. “What is it?”

 

She sighed. “Okay, okay. I’ve narrowed down the list I got of the names of the kids at the party. There’s only like twenty names left that I haven’t checked off.”

 

“Any of them say they can see colors?”

 

“Three, but all of them have been seeing colors for at least two weeks.” She tilted her head, narrowing her eyes at Dean. “Are you actually interested?” 

 

Dean shrugged. “I figured I should pay attention, at least. I may not be super into finding them, but I guess I don’t want to be completely deaf to it either.” 

 

Charlie gave a small, appreciative smile at that. “Great! Now, there’s french toast sticks for breakfast!” She waved her hand and the brothers followed, and thus started the school day.

~~~~~

Gabriel certainly wasn’t expecting to be woken up on Monday morning to a pillow thrown at his face, but that’s exactly what he got. After he spluttered awake, he lifted his eyes to see a laughing Balthazar and a grinning Claire.

 

“Morning Gabe! Happy Birthday!” Balthazar laughed, earning a small glare from Gabriel. 

 

Claire tilted her head and dispersed her grin. “Mom made your favorite- buttermilk chocolate chip waffles! She told us to come wake you up.” 

 

“Alright, well, I’m up.” Gabriel groaned, rubbing his face into his pillow. He then shifted onto his side as Balthazar and Claire finally left his room. 

 

Within minutes, Gabriel was awake and dressed. He put on the one shirt he always wore on his birthday- a light blue graphic tee of a llama wearing a party hat with the words ‘Happy Birthday’ in black lettering. After patting his hair down he headed downstairs, where sure enough, Becky had made his favorite breakfast for him. As soon as he stepped foot in the dining area, Becky whirled around and smiled at him. 

 

“Gabriel! Good morning sweetheart, I made your favorite.” She held up a plate and put it down in front of him as soon as he sat down. As he took the plate and cut his waffles, Becky gave a kind smile. “If you want, you can stay home today. It is your birthday, after all. You don’t turn 18 every day.”

 

Gabriel took a bite of his waffles and took a moment to think. Part of him actually _wanted_ to go to school, probably to search for his soulmate. And then, another part of him wanted to continue the tradition of staying home on his birthday to either go to a theme park or watch movies while bundled up in a blanket. 

 

“I’ll stay home.” Gabriel replied, after a few moments of thought.

 

Becky nodded. “Alright. I took the day off of work, so I’ll be home today if you need anything.” 

 

Gabriel nodded and took a bite of his waffles. He glanced over at Cas, who was sitting quietly and eating the regular buttermilk waffles Becky had prepared. Cas shared a brief glance with Gabriel, before nodding his head as he continued eating. 

 

As soon as Cas finished his meal, he went back to his room to get dressed. He was greeted with a loud meow from Gemini, who stared at Cas with an almost annoyed expression- as if to say “Why did you leave me?”

 

“Hey Gemini,” Cas murmured, running a hand through her fur, “Good morning little girl.” She ruffled her fur in appreciation, giving a soft meow in response. 

 

Cas then searched for a proper outfit for the day, now gifted with the ability to see color and pick out an outfit more properly. He ended up settling on a multicolored sweater, striped with blues, whites and grays, and a pair of jeans. As for shoes, he chose a pair of black sneakers that he then tugged on. Once dressed, he bid goodbye to Gemini and Nox and descended the stairs. 

 

By now, a few more people were active and awake, including their dad, Chuck. Chuck stood in the kitchen, drinking a cup of coffee and ignoring the playful barks from Alex, who was being held in Becky’s arms. Jack sat happily at the table, raising his arms and laughing when Cas reappeared. Cas smiled and walked over to his younger brother, ruffling his hair before he went to gather his school supplies for the day.

 

Claire was still sitting at the table, though now joined by Anna, Hannah and Hael, all of whom were engaged in conversation as they ate their waffles. Claire gave a high five to Cas when he walked past her, smiling brightly. Lucifer, meanwhile, was finishing up a worksheet at the table, one that he had forgotten to do and that had apparently been due on Friday. Raphael sat next to him, drinking from a mug and already completely ready for the day. He sat with a bored expression, using his free hand to scroll through his phone. 

 

The clock soon struck 7:40 and so chaos descended on those who were not yet fully ready to go to school. Gabriel stood by the door, a smug grin on his face as he gleefully watched the chaos unfold. 

 

“Glad you’re not going to school today?” Cas murmured, arching a brow.

 

Gabriel nodded. “Mhm. Now I can just watch the chaos, instead of being part of it.” 

 

“You are a weird one, Gabriel.” 

 

“Says the AHS stan.” Gabriel shot a glance at Cas, raising both of his brows. 

 

“And yet, you’re one too.” 

 

Gabriel rolled his eyes and folded his arms. “Don’t reveal my secret.” 

 

“You have a Sarah Paulson poster in your room.” Cas deadpanned.

 

“Listen, Cas, that woman could step on my face and I’d thank her.” 

 

“Exactly my point.” 

 

Gabriel opened his mouth to retort, but ultimately stayed quiet and stuffed his earbuds into his ears. Cas just smiled as Gabriel scrolled through YouTube to find a proper video to watch. 

 

By 7:50, all the siblings were finally dressed, fed and ready to go. Gabriel ushered Cas, Balthazar and Samandriel into his car, and they all piled their stuff in before climbing into their respective seats- Cas took shotgun while Balthazar and Samandriel sat in the back. Once the doors were closed, he turned on his playlist and drove the three of them to school, dropping them off. 

 

“Keep an eye out for my soulmate for me!” Gabriel called, before driving back home. Cas gave a wave in reply before shuffling his backpack higher onto his back. 

 

“What did his soulmate look like again?” Samandriel inquired, a confused expression on his face as he glanced at his brothers. 

 

“A tall guy with brown hair.” Cas replied, checking the time on his phone. “I’m gonna head to my first period.”

 

“This early, Cas?” Balthazar gave him a glance, his gray blue eyes locking with Cas’s. “Class doesn’t start for twenty five more minutes.” 

 

Cas paused. “Oh, you’re right.”  
“C’mon, we can find a table in the cafeteria and talk for a while.” 

 

Balthazar grabbed Cas’s shoulder and pulled him closer, grinning. “And, we can keep an eye out for _your_ soulmate, while we’re at it.”

 

Cas rolled his eyes and let out a sigh towards his twin. “Do you even remember the face of the guy that made out with me?”

 

“Not really, I didn’t get a good look. But I remember he was tall and had short, medium-ish colored hair. Probably some shade of blonde or brown.” 

 

“That’s not a lot to go on, you realize that, Balth?”

 

Balthazar gave an exaggerated sigh. “Yes, I do. But it’s something, at least, right?”

 

Cas opened the door to the cafeteria and shrugged. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.” 

 

“Well, soulmate or not, let’s just try to get through the school day.” 

 

Samandriel supplied, glancing at the both of them. They nodded in response, as the door closed behind them. The cafeteria was relatively empty, as it was only 8am. The three brothers found a seat near the main hall and began talking about their classes as the crowds began to file into the building. 

~~~~~

Lunch didn’t seem to arrive soon enough. By the time it did arrive, Sam was grateful to finally have a break from the onslaught of school work. His Geometry teacher had sprung a test on them, his law studies and french teacher had both given them projects, and he had spent his culinary class making sure that Gabriel wasn’t there. 

 

And he wasn’t, for some unknown reason. Whatever it was, Sam was grateful that he didn’t have to worry about hiding his new found vision for colors.

 

He didn’t know exactly why he was so worried and caught up about his soulmate’s identity, given that he had been so adamant to find them. But something about his soulmate being an infamous trickster just deterred him. He wasn’t a fan of the attention that he knew would follow that revelation. 

 

He walked with Dean and Charlie to lunch from their shared art class. As soon as they did reach the cafeteria, however, Charlie ran off to the lunch line, leaving the brothers to sit at their table alone. 

 

They thankfully weren’t alone for long, as Benny and Jo soon sat down at the table, both right before the bell rang. They both noticed Charlie’s absence from the table almost immediately. 

 

“Where’s Charlie?” Jo questioned, taking her lunch out of her lunchbox.

 

“She’s in the lunch line.” Dean replied, nodding his head towards the lunch line. Jo turned her head and pursed her lips.

 

“Ah, so she is.” Jo paused. “That’s weird. She doesn’t go in the lunch line much.” 

 

“Probably looking for my soulmate.” Dean whispered under his breath. Unfortunately for him, Benny heard that he said something.

 

“What was that brother?”

 

“Nothing.”

 

“What was what?” Jo asked, peering at Benny.

 

“Dean said something.” Benny replied, giving a nod to Dean. 

 

“What did you say, Dean?”

 

Dean let out a small huff. “She’s probably looking for my soulmate.”

 

Benny glanced at him. “Why would she do that?” 

 

“Because I met them. While I was drunk. At the party.” Dean took a bite out of the sandwich he had packed. “And I don’t remember who they were.”

 

Benny’s eyes widened, and Jo stared at him, starstruck.

 

“You met your soulmate?” Jo pressed her hands against the table, leaning over it as she stared at Dean.

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Dude, that’s cool. I wish I could meet my soulmate.” 

 

Benny patted Dean’s shoulder. “Well, you’re a lucky one brother. Not many people can say they met their soulmate in high school.”

 

Dean shrugged and continued munching on his sandwich. “Yeah, I guess.” 

 

A few minutes passed before the four of them finally got suspicious and/or impatient. “Okay, what’s taking Charlie so long?” Jo huffed, glancing at the line. She saw Charlie, but not in the line- she was talking to some girl right outside of the lunch line, a tray of food in her hand.

 

Dean lifted his head. “You see her?”

 

“Yeah.” Jo replied, narrowing her eyes. “She’s talking to some girl, but she has her lunch.”

 

“You know the girl?” 

 

Jo shook her head and took a bite of her lunch. Benny took a glance as well, but he didn’t recognize the girl either.

 

Eventually, Charlie made her way to the table, setting her plate down before glancing at the stares greeting her.

 

“Who were you talking to?” Jo asked.

 

A wide, bright smile suddenly spread across Charlie’s face, as she seemed to jitter with excitement- to the surprise of all those at the table. Dean glanced suspiciously at her, but he wasn’t expecting what she said.

 

“I met my soulmate.” 

 

Jo almost fell out of her chair. “You’re fucking kidding.” 

 

Even Benny was shocked. “Seriously? You met your soulmate in the lunch line?”

 

“Mhm.” Charlie nodded feverently. “Her name’s Gilda, and she’s really really pretty. And she’s a senior, apparently.”

 

Sam raised his eyebrows. “A senior?” 

 

Dean swallowed whatever he had been eating and stared at her. “Well why didn’t you invite her to sit at our table?” 

 

“She doesn’t have lunch this period.” 

 

“Then why was she in the cafeteria?”

 

“Something about having to walk a friend here.” Charlie shrugged. She glanced at Dean and raised her eyebrows. “Woah. Your eyes are really, really green.”

 

“Are they?”

 

Charlie nodded. “Really green. A very pretty green.” She pulled out her phone and unlocked, briefly looking at her own reflection in the camera. “You got lucky. I have blue-hazel eyes.” 

 

“They’re still quite pretty, I don’t know why you’re complaining.” Dean remarked, taking another bite of his food. “Oh, and question- why were you in the lunch line? Don’t you have food?”

 

“It’s one of my ways of finding your soulmate.” She remarked, fiddling with her food. “I’m going around to people and checking if they see color. Oh, but don’t worry! I’m very discreet, they don’t have any idea.” 

 

Dean wanted to say something, but ultimately bit his tongue. “Well, thank you for being discreet.”

 

Charlie nodded and smiled happily. “Wouldn’t want you too uncomfortable, Dean.” 

 

Dean nodded at her, silently very thankful of her for her consideration. 

 

Sam sat silent, munching away at his food. He agreed with Dean, Charlie’s eyes were very pretty, but he stayed silent as he didn't yet want them to know that he could see colors. He had seen Charlie in action, and he wasn’t sure he could hide the identity of his soulmate for long- especially since he hadn’t been drunk and therefore had no excuse. 

 

The rest of lunch was pretty uneventful- though then again, there wasn’t much that could compare to finding one's soulmate in a lunch line. 

 

Once lunch was over, Sam was grateful that he only had two classes left in the day. He was oddly tired today, but he shrugged it off as being just not getting enough sleep. 

 

By the time that school was over, he was tired but more than happy to finally go home. Dean dropped him off at home before he headed out to his therapy appointment, and Sam enjoyed the peace of a silent house while he could.

~~~~~

“So, spot anyone who looks like they could be my soulmate?” Gabriel questioned as Cas, Balthazar and Samandriel loaded into his car. 

 

“Sorry, no.” Cas replied, setting his backpack on the floor. “Can you play a Studio Killers or Mystery Skulls song?” 

 

Gabriel clicked on his playlist and scrolled down until he found the song Freaking Out, and clicked on it. As the song began to play, Gabriel dug his key into the engine and glanced at Cas as his car roared to life. 

 

“Really? Aw man.” 

 

“It’s only been one day, Gabe. You’ll find them.” Samandriel remarked softly, pulling out his phone. 

 

Gabriel pulled out of the parking lot and made his way down the winding road. “Yeah, true. But patience has never been my strong suit.”

 

Balthazar nodded at that, though thankfully out of Gabriel’s line of view. Once off the winding road, Gabriel drove down the main road until he pulled into the parking lot of a shopping complex.

 

“Gabriel, where’re you taking us?” Cas inquired, glancing around. 

 

“I wanted some Five Guys.” Gabriel replied simply, pulling into a parking spot in front of a Five Guys. “Consider it my treat. I’m paying.”

 

“What got you in such a generous mood today?” Balthazar questioned, raising a brow skeptically. He glanced at Gabriel as they all got out of the car. 

 

“Bro, I have a soulmate. I’m gonna be in a good mood for a while.” Gabriel held the door open for the three of them, and they all walked into the Five Guys. “Now, order up!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this took so long to update, i went to jaxcon in november, had my wisdom teeth out the following week and then had exams. on the plus side, i met jensen, jared, misha, rich, rob, matt, kim, bri, rachel, emily and jeffrey!! rich even signed my drawing of him and wrote birthday buddies on it since i told him we share a birthday (sept. 4th) :D
> 
> also misha stole my glasses and told me i’m blind so that was fun


	8. Some scars don't fade

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dean and Sam have a rough start to their days. Sam accidentally lets slip his ability to see colors, and Dean runs into Cas at the library.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the long ass break, writer's block is a bitch :( but, i got a gf a day ago so i was in such a good mood that i decided to finish this chapter! so, here ya go!

Sam managed to wake up early yet again. Or at least early compared to Dean’s standards, as Dean often told him whenever Sam went to wake him up- which by now, seemed to practically be Sam’s job. It was odd, Sam sometimes thought, for him, the younger brother, to be waking his older brother up every morning instead of the other way around. But when had their lives been anything but unorthodox? 

 

As of this particular morning, Sam had woken up at 6:40 am, and after getting himself ready, had decided to wake Dean up at 7:15 am. Dean had mumbled groggily when Sam knocked on his door. Sam opened the door and glanced into the room, seeing Dean still half-asleep underneath his blankets. Without a single word, Sam walked over and pulled the sheets off of him- earning a loud groan from Dean, who looked rather offended at being woken up. 

 

“Sam, it’s Saturday.” Dean whined angrily, digging his face into his pillow. Sam tapped on the wall next to Dean’s door, taking a moment to admire Dean’s small assortment of posters. As he did so, Dean tugged his blanket back over himself and glanced at Sam. “Why are you waking me up so early on a Saturday?”

 

Sam’s eyes flitted back to Dean before he shook his head with a small laugh. “Dean, I’ve been telling you that you need to get a calendar. It’s friday.” Sam walked over and tapped on his phone, showing Dean the date- Friday, the 15th. 

 

Dean groaned loudly and shoved his face back into the pillow. “Goddammit. Why does it have to be a friday?? Why can’t it just be saturday?!”

 

Sam gave a small chuckle as he watched Dean pull his pillow over his ears. Sam rested a hand on the pillow and tugged. “It’s _also_ french toast friday _and_ pizza night friday, but I’m guessing you don’t want that.” 

 

Dean almost instantly sprung up at the sound of french toast and pizza, causing Sam to whip his hand over his mouth to stop himself from laughing. Dean caught the small burst of contained laughter and fixed himself, hiding his excitement before yawning and patting his hair down. 

 

Dean sighed as Sam stepped back, before he pulled his blanket off of himself, yawning. “Alright, I’ll get up then.” 

 

Sam nodded and ducked out of his brother’s room, closing the door politely. Sam then glanced briefly at his own closed, plain bedroom door before heading downstairs. He had already taken a shower, gotten dressed and fixed his hair. All that was left was for him to eat breakfast and pack up his school things into his backpack. Well, and to brush his teeth, but he figured he could do that _after_ he ate breakfast, so as to not just clean them and then get food remnants on them. 

 

As he descended the stairs, he got a view of the downstairs area. Arizona was napping lazily on the floor by the stairs, but jumped up when she heard footsteps and yelped at Sam. Sam’s eyes widened and he laughed as his feet made contact with the floor. He then ran up to Arizona and ran his fingers through her fur as she yelped happily and nipped at his fingers playfully. 

“Ari! Ari Ari!” He laughed, grinning madly at Arizona jumped around. “Good morning little girl!” Arizona barked happily, following Sam as he walked towards the kitchen. 

 

“Mornin’ son.” Bobby spoke as Sam walked into the kitchen, a smile still on his face. Bobby turned and faced Sam, placing a plate of french toast in front of him. “Fixed breakfast for you and Dean. He up yet?” 

 

“Think so.” Sam replied, taking the plate in his hands. Plate in hand, he walked to the dining area, which was on the other side of the foyer. He placed his plate down in the middle of the table and then made his way back to the kitchen to grab some silverware, Arizona following him all the way. Bobby was still there, fiddling with the pancake maker. Sam grabbed some silverware from the drawers and glanced at Bobby. “I went in his room to try and wake him up a few minutes ago. I think he got up to get dressed by the time I walked out.” 

 

Just then, footsteps were heard, and the two turned to see Dean walk off the stairs and towards the kitchen. As soon as he stepped off the stairs, Arizona yelped and ran over to Dean, who gave a small smile and ran a hand through her fur. 

 

“Mornin’ son,” Bobby said gruffly, handing Dean a plate of french toast, “Here’s your breakfast.”

 

Dean’s mouth almost seemed to water as he grabbed the plate in earnest, a hungry look in his eyes. “Thank you Bobby.”

 

Bobby just shook his head and waved Sam and Dean off towards the dining area. “No need to thank me, boy. You two eat up so you can head to school.”

 

Dean nodded, his lips moving briefly. He paused, and suddenly, the slightest hint of fear glimmered behind his eyes. Dean’s eyes flickered and he bit his lip, almost as if he were trying to stop himself from saying something. He then quickly turned and headed to the dining room, plate in hand. Bobby immediately noticed and some unidentifiable look formed in his eyes, but he shook his head and just turned to fix himself some breakfast. Sam, however, glanced solemnly at Dean, who walked quickly and silently to the dining room. The memories of their biological father filled his mind, of the moments when John would give out an order or any sort of command, and how Dean would immediately stiffen and reply with a “yes sir.” How robotic he’d become. How robotic and soldier-like he’d been trained to be. 

 

Time hadn’t yet washed away all the scars, it seemed.

 

When Sam reentered the dining room, Dean was sitting silently and eating. A conflicted, slightly solemn expression sat on his face, but it seemed to dissipate the moment Sam sat down. Dean glanced at his younger brother and gave a small smile, whatever pain he had remembered now hidden behind his eyes. 

 

Sam couldn’t help but frown a little as he ate his french toast. 

~~~~~

“Hey, Sam, you alright?”

 

It took Sam a second to process the question, or the fact that someone was speaking to him. By the time he looked up, Andy was staring at him, a look of concern visible on his face. 

 

“Oh- oh, yeah, sorry.” Sam replied, dragging himself out of his trance. He quickly realized how weird he must’ve looked- staring absentmindedly at a blank piece of notebook paper, dragging his pencil along lazily with no real direction or goal- and snapped his notebook closed, almost without thinking. 

 

Andy shifted in his seat, playing with the pencil between his fingers. “Something happen? You’ve been weird the entire period.” 

 

Sam shook his head, still a little wobbly and caught off guard. “No, no. I just… I don’t know. Guess I’m just a little off today.” 

 

Andy arched a brow, obviously skeptical, but shrugged his shoulders. “You seem a little bit more than just ‘off’, dude. I’m serious, are you okay? Did something happen?” 

 

Sam shook his head in dismissal and gripped his pencil. “I’m fine, Andy, really.” 

 

As Sam got back to his work, a girl tapped on Andy’s shoulder and nudged towards Sam, so Andy tapped Sam’s shoulder. “Hey, Sam. This girl wants to ask you something.”

 

Sam turned to see the new transfer student looking at him with big brown eyes. “Yes?”

 

“Are you okay?” She asked raspily. Her voice sounded odd- and Sam instantly figured out that she must be deaf. 

 

“Yes, I am.” Sam replied, signing a little as he did so. The girl looked surprised. 

 

“You know sign?” 

 

Sam shrugged. “Not that well. I know a little.” His eyes met the girl’s eyes- a look of surprise and gratefulness barely evident. “I… someone I knew went mute for a short period of time. I had to learn sign language so I could easily talk to them.” 

 

The girl gave a small skeptical glance, but didn’t question him. Instead, she simply nodded in understanding before returning to her work. 

 

The worksheet they were given was a rather simple one, so both Andy and Sam finished it rather quickly. Before Andy could say something else to Sam, though, Sam got a tap on his shoulder from someone else.

 

Sam turned and saw Jess, the girl who had very kindly helped him with his homework a week prior. She gave a smile and tucked a strand of her blonde hair behind her ear. 

 

“Hey Sam. How’s your day doing?” 

 

Sam put his elbow on the desk and dropped his pencil. “It’s alright, I guess. What about you?” 

 

“My day’s good. I had a good first class. Math, with Ms. Bond.” She shrugged her shoulders. “She’s a pretty cool teacher.” 

 

Sam turned to glance at her. “Oh, what math do you have?” 

 

“Algebra 1 Honors. What about you?”

 

“Geometry Honors, first period with Mr. Craddock.” 

 

“Ooh, he’s a really good teacher. My cousin had him.” She tapped her pencil lightly on her desk, her lips still held up in a smile. “From what I heard, he’s really good at explaining things and actually teaching.” 

 

Sam nodded. “He is.”

 

“That’s good. I’m hoping to get him next year.” She tilted her head down and glanced at her worksheet, before her eyes fell onto Sam’s. “You finished yours?”

 

Sam nodded again, and his lips curved into a grin. “Lemme guess, you’ve been done for a few minutes?”

 

She grinned and shrugged her shoulders absentmindedly. “Yeah. I’m just really quick at doing work, I guess.” She gave a small laugh before glancing at Sam, some new emotion wavering in her eyes. “Oh, I don’t mean to brag, in any way.”

 

“Oh no, I don’t think you’re bragging.” 

 

Jess’s lips curved up into a shy smile and she tilted her head. “Really?” 

 

When Sam nodded, her lips curved into an even bigger and somehow even shyer smile. “Thanks. People tend to think I’m bragging.” 

 

Sam just shook his hand. “Nothing wrong with getting work done quick, right? Saying you can work fast isn’t really bragging, unless you make a big show about it.” 

 

“True that.” Came a voice suddenly, and Sam turned to see the dark haired girl that Jess often stuck with. As he locked eyes with her, something registered in her dark eyes, and she raised her brows. “Oh, you’re Sam, right? The name’s Ruby.”

 

“Hi, Ruby. Nice to meet you.” 

 

She pursed her lips momentarily, her dark eyes glancing across his face as if to scan him. Sam didn’t really understand why, but her eyes ran all over his face for a little while. However, it didn’t last more then a few seconds, as she quickly unpursed her lips and closed them flatly. “Nice to meet you too.” And without another word, she turned and went back to her worksheet. 

 

A confused expression dawned on Sam’s face, so Jess tapped his shoulder and cupped her hand to his ear. “Sorry about that, Ruby’s just not very open to new people.” Jess whispered with an apologetic smile. Sam nodded in understanding, as Jess gave him another smile. She was an oddly cheerful person, but Sam didn’t mind. 

 

Jess then tilted her head again, glancing at Sam’s binder and then at him. “Oh, what’s your next class?” 

 

“French 1, with Mr. Anthony. You?” 

 

Jess tucked her pencil away in her pencil bag, before glancing back at Sam. “I have culinary.” 

 

“Oh really? I have Culinary fourth period.”

 

Jess raised her brows and gave an amused huff. “Really? What’s your lunch period?”

 

“Sixth.”

 

She gave a small laugh. “Man, if you had fifth lunch, you’d be the luckiest person ever. Two periods back-to-back of just food. That’d be awesome, wouldn’t it?” 

 

Sam laughed as well. “Yeah, it would be.” 

 

Jess gave a nod and then took out her phone- the teacher had already said that phones were allowed, only if you finished all your work. Seemingly sensing that Sam was slightly off, she pulled up her instagram and flipped to her saved videos. “Here, since we’re both done with our worksheets, I wanna show you something.” As Sam (and Andy) glanced at her phone, Jess proceeded to play a few videos of some cute and clumsy dogs, all while Sam began to smile even more. He ended up leaving his second period in a much better mood than when he had arrived. 

~~~~~

“Alright class,” Cried the art teacher the moment the bell rang, “Get into groups of three! You’ll be doing a small group project.” 

 

There were a few groans from some kids, but Sam just smiled as Charlie tapped both his and Dean’s shoulders. 

 

“Now, this group project shouldn’t be too difficult, but some of you may struggle with it. You’ll be doing a paintings- one person will paint a sunrise, one person will paint a midday sun, and the last person will paint a sunset! I’ve given you each paints with colors labeled- if you need to know which colors to use, they’ve been written on the board.” She turned and pointed to the white board, where a lazily sketched sunrise, midday sun and sunset laid, colors labeled. “I will be walking around, so feel free to ask if you need help.” 

 

“I’ll paint the sunrise.” Charlie offered, taking a paintbrush and a few bottles of paint with the appropriate colors labeled. “Dean, you can do a sunset, and Sam can do the midday sun.” 

 

Before Dean could reply, Sam interjected with a simple, “I’ll do the sunset.” Charlie turned and glanced at him, but Sam didn’t respond, only meeting her eyes. 

 

“I agree with Sam. He’s better at art in general than I am.” Dean supplied, shrugging. “And I think the midday sun should be easiest. Best to give it to me, the least artistically talented one of us three.” Charlie glanced at Dean as well, but she just shrugged and nodded. 

 

Sam nodded and grabbed a paintbrush and some paint bottles, not bothering to look at the labels. Dean also grabbed a paintbrush and a few bottles of paint, also not looking at the labels. Sam quickly realized this mistake, but thankfully neither Dean nor Charlie seemed to notice that he had grabbed the correct colors without even glancing at the labels. 

 

The teacher handed each of them a 8.5 by 11 inch canvas, and each student quickly put it on their easels. Charlie was the first of the three of them to paint, as she dipped her brush into the green and began painting the landscape. Sam dipped his brush into the green as well and started painting a landscape, while Dean just dipped his into the yellow and started to paint a sun. 

 

The paint was quick to dry, so they only had to wait maybe six minutes to do the next layer. As Sam painted the sunset with ease, Dean glanced at his painting in awe. 

 

“Wow, Sammy. That’s really good!” He exclaimed, pausing his own painting for a brief moment. 

 

Before Sam could even acknowledge the comment, Charlie paused her own painting as well and peeked at Sam’s. “Woah, Sam, that is really good! How’d you mesh the colors so well?”

 

“It’s not that hard,” Sam murmured, almost solely to himself, as he dragged the brush across the canvas. His hand seemed to move on its own, guided by nothing more than the artistic drive within him. “You just gotta pay attention to how they mix while you paint.”

 

Dean and Charlie watched Sam paint for a few moments, entranced. Then, a light lit up in Charlie’s eyes, and she stared at Sam in shock.

 

“Wait, can you see how they mix?”

 

“Yeah, wh-“ Sam suddenly stopped himself, though thankfully not suspiciously. He quickly regretted his slip of the tongue, however, when he saw how Charlie’s face lit up.

 

“You met your soulmate?!?” She exclaimed, thankfully not loud enough to draw attention. Sam internally cursed himself as Dean caught on.

 

“Wait, Sam, you did?” Dean glanced at Sam, momentarily pausing his painting, “You met your soulmate? When?” 

 

“At the party.” Sam murmured, shyness evident in his tone. “It’s just.. I don’t know, I guess since you also found yours there, I felt it’d be awkward to say I also found mine. And I just wasn’t thinking. Shock, I guess.”

 

Dean shook his head adamantly, his green eyes filled with a sudden pride.

 

“I wouldn’t have minded! I thought you were super excited to meet your soulmate? Took you by surprise, I guess?” Dean wrapped an arm around Sam, briefly setting his paintbrush aside. “Do you know who they are?”

 

“No. I don’t know.” Sam lied, quite efficiently. “It was dark, and they were so drunk you could smell it on them. I couldn’t see their face and the smell was too overwhelming to stand. As curious as I was, I couldn’t stay there much longer. I left before I could see their face.” 

 

Charlie clicked her tongue and let her eyes dart across Sam’s face. “That’s a shame. You mind if I help you find them?”

 

Sam took a brief moment to ponder the question, sincerely considering his options. Eventually, against his better judgement, he found himself nodding. 

 

“Sure.” 

 

Charlie smiled gleefully and clapped her hands together. “Yay! This is gonna be so much fun!” She slid her paintbrush across her canvas for the last time and placed it down so the current round of paint could dry. “You won’t regret this!” 

 

It was then that she grabbed her phone and typed away at the screen, though Sam was unsure if it was related to his current situation, or if she was just texting her soulmate. Either way, Sam continued painting, hoping his slip of the tongue wouldn’t come back to haunt him. 

~~~~~

Dean rubbed his eyes tiredly as he stared at the paper in front of him. It was currently 4pm, and school was over. However, Dean had opted to go to the library right next to the school, in order to work on some homework without distractions. Sam was there too, but was in a different section of the library, avidly reading.

 

As Dean tapped his pencil absentmindedly, a kid suddenly sat down across from him and pulled a binder out. Dean did a quick double take, and his eyes then landed on one of the most handsome guys Dean had ever seen.

 

Messy dark, almost solid black hair and eyes bluer than anything he’d ever seen. A tanned, slightly chiseled face with a serious expression resting on it, which rather than looking unattractive, made the guy even hotter. Dean didn’t even realize he was staring until the boy locked eyes with him.

 

“Oh, I’m sorry,” The boy spoke, and Dean was taken aback by the boy’s voice, “Did you want to sit alone?”

 

“Oh, no, I don’t mind.” Dean replied, shaking his head. “I’m just working on some chemistry homework.” 

 

“Wait, I think we have chemistry together.” The boy glanced at Dean’s paper. “What period and teacher?”

 

“Fourth period, Ms. MacLeod.”

 

“Yep, I knew it.” The boy grinned and pulled out a piece of paper. “You need any help? I got the homework done already.”

 

Dean breathed a sigh of relief. “Yes, please. I barely understand any of this.”

 

The boy chuckled and stood up, opting to sit next to Dean instead. “Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. I’m Castiel Novak, but everyone calls me Cas.”  
Dean took Cas’s hand and shook it. “Dean Winchester.”

 

“Winchester, huh? Cool name.” The boy grinned and pulled out a pencil. “Here, let me help.” 

 

Sure enough, the boy managed to help Dean. Chemistry might not have been one of Dean’s worst subjects, but Cas seemed to know way more than Dean could have ever dreamed. By the time Dean had completed his worksheet, the boy was already helping him with another paper, explaining things to Dean that he had never understood before. Dean was blown away by the boy’s knowledge; _he must be a chemistry genius! _Dean thought to himself in awe. Soon enough, Dean’s pencil was flying across the paper, guided by Cas’s very helpful tutoring. And for once, Dean didn’t mind being tutored.__

__

__A full hour passed before either of them realized. Dean didn’t even notice until he felt a tapping on his shoulder, which turned out to be Sam. Dean whirled around, breaking Cas’s concentration, and they both glanced at Sam._ _

__

__“I don’t mean to interrupt your study session,” Sam apologized, glancing at Dean, then Cas, then the paper between them, “But it’s almost 5pm. Bobby will probably be wondering where we are.”_ _

__

__Dean glanced at his watch, and swore. “Shit! It is, I didn’t even realize!”_ _

__

__‘Wait, it’s 5pm?!” Cas cried, glancing at his phone. His fingers flew away on his screen, and a look of panic crossed his face. “Fuck, I think my brother forgot I was here.” Before either Sam or Dean could say anything, Cas flew out of his seat, grabbed his stuff and pressed his phone to his ear. He quickly walked away to a level 1 area of the library, where talking and phones were allowed, and left the two brothers on their own._ _

__

__“Alright, let me pack up.” Dean murmured, grabbing his stuff._ _

__

__Sam tilted his head and stared at the form of the boy walking off. “Who was that?”_ _

__

__“A kid from my chem class. He was helping me with my classwork.”_ _

__

__“What’s his name?”_ _

__

__“Castiel.”_ _

__

__Sam raised a brow. “That’s a pretty unique name.”_ _

__

__Dean huffed in amusement. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.”_ _

__

__A minute or so passed before Dean saw Cas approaching him._ _

__

__“Everything okay?”_ _

__

__“Yeah,” Cas remarked, “My brother was so out of it he left me here. He’s gonna come get me.”_ _

__

__“How far away do you live?”_ _

__

__“Five, eight minutes. Not far.”_ _

__

__“Let me take you. I’m heading home.”_ _

__

__Cas glanced at Dean with a look of momentary surprise on his face, before he pulled out his phone. “Oh, okay. Sure. Lemme text my brother.”_ _

__

__Dean packed his stuff up and heaved his backpack onto his shoulder, watching Cas all the while. Sam ducked away momentarily to grab his stuff, and by the time he was back, all three of them were ready._ _

__

__Dean led them all to the Impala, and once they all climbed in, Dean handed his phone to Cas. “Here, plug your address into my gps.”_ _

__

__Cas nodded and typed away, then handed his phone back to Dean._ _

__

__“What songs do you have, by the way?” Cas asked curiously._ _

__

__“Mostly rock, like AC/DC and Led Zeppelin.”_ _

__

__“And Taylor Swift.” Sam interjected with a smirk._ _

__

__“It is not a crime to like Taylor Swift, Sam.” Dean gave a quick glare to his younger brother as he peeled out of the parking lot. “Besides, I’m not the one with a Celine Dion addiction.”_ _

__

__Sam stuck his tongue out at Dean as an AC/DC song started playing, and Cas couldn’t help but laugh. The two of them reminded him so much of his own siblings._ _

__

__During the car ride, two AC/DC songs and a Taylor Swift song played, and Cas was still nodding his head as Dean pulled up to his house._ _

__

__“Wait, you live here?”_ _

__

__“I did tell you my surname is Novak.” Cas laughed. “And yes, I do.”_ _

__

__“Cool house.”_ _

__

__Cas grinned as he grabbed his backpack. “Thank you, Dean. I’ll see you in chemistry.”_ _

__

__“See you.”_ _

__

__And with that, Dean pulled away and drove off. Cas was left standing in the driveway, smiling as he watched the car disappear. He was still smiling by the time he walked into his house, but he didn’t know why. Regardless, he shrugged it off and headed upstairs._ _


End file.
